Baby Wishes
by amkp
Summary: This is the sequel to Best Wishes. Ranger and Stephanie have been married for three years, and are ready to take the next step. How will they handle it? Welcome to their adventure!
1. Time for Change

**Baby Wishes**

By: amkp

Chapter 1-Time for Change

**Disclaimer: **No, they don't belong to me, well at least not the most important one…Ranger! They are products of Janet Evanovich. Anyone you don't recognize from the books is mine, all mine! LOL.

**Author's note:** Well, welcome to the next story in this series. I hope I can keep you entertained, and don't disappoint. ;) I look forward to hearing from all of you, especially my beloved plot-players! You, babes, rock!

My special thanks to all who have encouraged and supported me with my writing. Cara, thanks, Babe! Love ya! The real-life Isabella…what to say? It's been an adventure, hasn't it? Including Las Vegas! Thanks for faithfully standing by me, playing secretary when called upon and all your never-ending support! Xoxos!

I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends met through this site, Jen, Tracy, Kathy, Sharon, Kricket, and all of you!

Last, but certainly not least, I'm pleased to tell you that Super Beta Jenny has renewed her contract and signed on as editor of this story, too! The terms were really crappy-all work and no pay. LOL! Trust me, we all reap the rewards of her fine talent. Thanks, Babe!

**SPOV**

Three years ago today, I became Mrs. Carlos Manoso. The wanna-be Wonder Woman had married her real life Batman. I've never been happier.

Oh, that's not saying it's been blissfully happy _all _the time. We've butted heads, on more than one occasion, on various subjects. We both have strong ideas about how things should go. Even when I wanted to grab him and shake him until his teeth rattled (yeah, he's probably felt the same way towards me), our love has never wavered.

The disagreements never last long, and of course, there is _always_ make-up sex when things are resolved. Honestly, though, those arguments are few and far between. For the most part, we get along great. We've been friends for a long time now, and we generally just enjoy each other's company.

We've traveled over the past years. Boy, have we traveled! There'd been all the 'normal' places most people only dream about seeing, and there had been some places I didn't even know existed. Countries I'd never heard of. Carlos seemed to enjoy those the most!

While trooping through the jungle or backpacking up mountains weren't my favorite things to do, he was really in his element. I didn't complain too much, because I always felt safe, and seeing how happy it made him, well, it wasn't that difficult to do. Plus, it was a compromise of sorts for all those times I made us do silly things that he really didn't enjoy as much.

It was all about the deals. And wow, we were good at that! It was a common joke between us now. We'd become experts on wheeling and dealing with each other to get what we wanted.

We leaned on each other through the sad times, too. Grandma Rosa had passed away six months after we were married, and last year, my dad had, had a scare with cancer. During those difficult periods, Carlos and I stuck close, drawing comfort from one another.

And now, we were getting ready to change our lifestyle in a big way. I looked down at the album in my lap and the picture of us walking down the beach together on our wedding day. Lightly, I traced Carlos' silhouette with my fingertip. I felt the tingle a moment before his warm breath whispered on the skin of my neck.

"Happy Anniversary, Babe."

"Same to you, husband. How was your swim?"

He wrapped his arms around me, and the moisture from his bare wet chest transferred on to the thin material of the robe I was wearing.

"Lonely," he said, before kissing below my ear.

"Hmm," I replied, tipping my head to the side, allowing him better access to my neck. "Can you believe it's been three years?" I asked a little breathless—his kisses still made me that way.

"It seems like yesterday, Mrs. Manoso." His talented hands found their way into my robe and began teasing my nipples.

Looking back to the album, I sighed at the picture of Isabella and Raphael. Carlos settled his chin on my shoulder, while he looked at the picture with me.

"I can't believe they didn't work out," I commented.

"Yeah," Carlos agreed. "It took Raphael almost six months to come out of it."

"Do you think he's completely over her?"

I could feel Carlos shake his head. "No, not really. We Manoso brothers fall hard."

A giggle escaped before I could stop it. "You're not going to hear any complaints from me about that."

"Babe," he drawled, running his hand down to find my clit, where he began a slow leisurely circle—not quite touching one of my _favorite_ spots. "Have you talked to her lately?" he asked softly.

His question barely penetrated my brain; his fingers were causing things to short circuit in my mind. "Who? What?"

"Isabella."

"Oh her! Yeah, she emailed the night before we left, to wish us a Happy Anniversary."

There had been a big drama while we were on our honeymoon. From the bits and pieces Carlos and I had been able to put together from each of them, it seemed that they'd gone back to Raphael's the night of our wedding. One thing had led to another, and Isabella had woken up the next morning minus her virginity.

Raphael had surprisingly proposed before they'd even left the bed, but Isabella declined. She told me she'd felt he'd only offered because, 'he felt bad about things going too far.'

He'd denied it, and said he'd asked because he truly loved her. Things went downhill from there, and a big fight broke out, with ugly words exchanged on both sides.

Raphael's solution was to bury himself in work at RangeMan, logging eighteen or more hours a day and driving everyone around him crazy. The guys told us Tank had threatened to come down to Miami and kick his ass more than once.

And Isabella disappeared.

Raphael had frantically searched for her, got in a fight with her brother trying to get information out of him, but in the end, couldn't find her. Her name was not something you said in front of him, unless you were prepared to deal with one angry man.

He and Carlos had made more than one trip to the mats trying to help him 'handle' her disappearance. It bothered me that Carlos was sometimes sore for a couple days after these encounters, but he never complained. He said he'd beat the shit out of Raphael—and Tank, for that matter—more than once on his trips to Miami when I was with Morelli. It was their way, and I'd never understand the male mind. Never.

Ironically, Isabella had ended up in Las Vegas, running the club that Niko had owned. She and her brother had bought it for a steal when Niko needed to flee the country, and Isabella was looking for somewhere far away from Miami. She'd sworn me to secrecy regarding her whereabouts, but still occasionally asked about Raphael.

The robe was lifted from my body and tossed behind us. I felt the warm breeze hit my naked skin.

Carlos absently stroked my belly with his right hand.

"It's going to feel like heaven to be inside you again without a condom."

We'd had to start practicing 'safe sex' when my OB/GYN had stopped the birth control pills, in preparation of us getting pregnant. It had been a long couple of months, as both of us hated having the barrier between us.

"We're ready for this, right?" I questioned, a touch of panic in my voice. This was going to be a big, irrevocable step for us.

"Babe, are you having doubts?"

"No," I said softly, and then a little firmer. "No. I just figure it'll only take one time. Ya know, Batsperm, and all that."

Carlos shook his head slightly, and he might even have rolled his eyes—I was wearing off on him! His erection was hard and pulsing against my back, while two of his fingers tested my core.

I moaned.

He bit lightly on my earlobe. "You won't mind if we do it more than once, will you?"

He added another finger and stroked faster.

"Okay, maybe twice," I teased, before all logical thought was gone.

The first orgasm arrived quickly. As soon as it was over, Carlos lifted me easily and lay me down on the large, circular couch that sat on the wide front porch of our island home. He brushed my hair from my forehead, and then began kissing down my body. He laved each of my breasts, blowing lightly, which turned them into hard pebbles.

Carlos positioned himself at my entrance. I could feel the rock hard, velvety softness of him probe gently. His beautiful, chocolate brown eyes pierced mine, as he searched my face before moving any further.

I lay my hand on the side of his face, while giving him a little smile, offering him the reassurance that I was ready for this.

He leaned into the caress for a moment, and then clasped my hand, kissed the palm, and entwined our fingers.

In the next instant, he was inside me, stretching my inner walls and filling me completely. Carlos stilled, and we both sighed, savoring the experience of being one again without any restrictions. He rested his forehead on mine, and I buried my fingers into his hair, holding him in place.

It was just us; the outside world slipped away. When he finally began to move, it was with long, deliciously hard strokes. With most of his weight supported by his left arm, his right hand was free to travel my body. He alternated light pinches to my breasts, with slow flicks to my clit.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, deepening his penetration. My head tipped back, and my eyes shuttered close as the sensation became almost too overwhelming.

Carlos' lips began kissing down the column of my neck, his breathing becoming heavier.

The curling in the pit of my stomach began, and I knew I was close. Slow wasn't going to cut it anymore. I groaned loudly, dug my nails into his ass, and commanded, "Faster. Harder."

"Patience, Babe."

"No!" I snapped, and in a fit of passion, used all my weight to flip him to his right side. With my ankles locked tightly around him, I was able to keep our intimate connection as I rolled with him through the rotation.

Carlos was not going to complain. He loved to watch me ride him.

I began bouncing up and down, determined to get fast and hard with or without his blessing. My breasts bounced rapidly with the force. Carlos clasped both of them firmly, holding them, while tweaking the nipples.

I leaned back, placing my hands high on his strong, muscular thighs, and brought my knees up to my chest. In this squatting position, I was able to slam down harder and harder. I was panting in between my cries of pleasure.

The next orgasm was a thriller when it arrived. Carlos forced his hips up and continued the thrusts, while I became lost in my explosion. As soon as it started to smooth out, Carlos flipped us again and drove himself home, with my name a growl on his lips as I felt his release pump inside me.

For the next few minutes, we lay sated, with a light sheen of sweat covering both of us, and the warm tropic breeze caressing our naked bodies. The peace and tranquility of the moment settled over me, and I knew somewhere deep down in my subconscious that we'd just made our first child together.

**RPOV**

There was no greater moment than being buried inside my wife, and soon-to-be mother of my child. I'd spent most of my adult life preventing impregnating a woman, especially after the surprise that was Julie, and now I was actively trying to do just the opposite. Hoping, even, that it happens. _How weird is that?_

I looked down into her gorgeous, sapphire blue eyes and felt like I was seeing her soul. Both of us were lost in our thoughts, contemplating the magnitude of what we're doing and how our lives together would change based on our decision to start a family.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. But my main emotions were joy and excitement. I was looking forward to seeing a physical reflection of our love.

_Would the child have the curly hair and blue eyes of its mother, __or would they be more like__ mine? Would it be carefree and spontaneous like __her, or__ more serious?_ One thing was for sure; he or she would be loved and protected.

Stephanie gave a little sigh, and I shifted my weight, easing out of her body to lie down next to her. We snuggled together, her head resting on my chest. I traced random patterns on her back using just my fingertips.

"So do you think we're pregnant?" she asked with an eager expression on her face as she looked up at me.

I laughed softly. "You do have a lot of confidence in my virility, don't you?"

She nodded and smiled sweetly at me.

Reaching for her hand, I laid it gently over my heart and rubbed at it gently. "Stephanie, I know that it's the right time in your cycle, and it should be all systems go, but I don't want you to be disappointed if this doesn't happen right away."

She blew out an exasperated sigh. "I know that…logically. It doesn't make it any easier, though. Now that we've decided to have a child, I want it to happen."

"All in good time, my impatient wife," I murmured as my hand trailed down her body. "I can promise you this. If we aren't pregnant after our time here, it isn't going to be from lack of trying."

Within minutes, I had Stephanie sufficiently distracted from any worries and solely focused on finding her next orgasm.

Later that night, as she slept in my arms on the couch, exhausted from our many rounds of lovemaking, I enjoyed the quiet of the evening.

I had spoken briefly to Tank when we were last in Trenton about Stephanie and me trying to get pregnant. Tank had become a father about eight months ago. He and Susan had only been married three months when they found out they were expecting.

It had hit him like a ton of bricks. I'd never seen him so nervous. As Susan's delivery date approached, we'd had to pull him off street duty and restrict him to paperwork. He was a danger to society; he was wound so tightly, ready to snap at any minute.

We'd actually stayed in Trenton for nearly a month before and after the birth of his daughter, Mikaylla. That little girl had my friend wrapped around her finger from the moment he laid eyes on her. It was a sight to see. The big, bad-ass, take-no-shit-from-anyone guy morphed into a gentle giant when he was with his daughter.

I disciplined myself right now not to appear as soft in public with our child. The men had been merciless in their teasing of Tank. He'd taken it all in stride, choosing to wear an expression that said, 'You'll be here someday, and you'll understand.' Looked like my day was coming fairly soon. In roughly nine months, if Stephanie had anything to say about it.

This experience was going to be so different than Julie. I was detached from her birth and the early years of her life. It angered me now that I'd shrugged it off all those years ago. _Young, prideful, focused on your career, and invincible_, my subconscious reminded me. Yeah, that was my lifestyle back then.

I'd tried hard to repair my relationship with Julie. She'd luckily had a great father figure in Ron, so she didn't hold much against me. It had worked out all right for everyone.

Since Ron's death, we'd grown even closer; well, that is, until she'd discovered guys. Now we tended to argue from time to time over the subject.

At sixteen, she's a beautiful, budding young woman, who has attracted a lot of attention—much to my displeasure. Rachel and Stephanie say I need to be more forward thinking and not put such firm restrictions on the topic of her dating.

What they fail to understand is that I was once a sixteen year old boy, and if I was dating a girl back then that looked like Julie, there'd only be one thing on my mind!

Julie had begun defense training about a year ago at RangeMan, and was excelling in martial arts. It was some comfort to know that she'd be able to take care of herself, should she ever get into a bad situation.

It was getting late, and the day had been a pleasurable one, spent mostly making love to my sexy wife. I picked her up and carried her into our bedroom, placing her in the center of the big king size bed, and then crawling in next to her.

Being that was so warm here; we only used a thin blanket at night. I pulled the cover over both us, fitted my body behind hers, and stifled a groan when she wiggled her ass against my now hard-on.

I took a moment to consider making love to her again, but tamped it down quickly. At this pace, neither of us were going to be able to walk by tomorrow.

So I comforted myself with a vision of Stephanie round with our child. What a beautiful sight! This was going to be a wonderful experience to share with her, and I looked forward to all the change that was about to happen between us.

**TBC**

Author's endnote: As with Birthday and Baby Wishes, I will try my best to post weekly, probably on Wednesdays.

Please leave a review. I plan on keeping the plot-player questions going in this story, too. I enjoyed hearing everyone's opinions, and honestly, the reviewers made Best Wishes a much better story. Thank you! See ya next Wednesday!


	2. A Change in Plan

Chapter 2-A Change in Plan

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still don't own them. Any and all translation errors are the responsibility of Bable Fish, sorry to all you who are bi-lingual (I am not, but wish I were!) and have to suffer through it.

**Author's note:** Wow! I was blown away by the plot-players! There was a terrific response. I'd say about 70% of you voted one way, 20% for the other and 10% for the remainder. Thanks so much for playing along!

Here's a heartfelt shout out to all of you: rangerluvin, time4tea, Ziandra2010, kjen, Mik N'jirnav, FairTaxGirl, jerseygirlinoxford, forever babe, Barb4psu, EEG, Milenab, Ryl, rangergirl1234, Pril C., ty93 and concetta33. I've said it before, but it bears repeating, plot-players ROCK! Thank you!

Thanks, Cara, for your support.

Super Beta Jenny flew over this chapter and corrected my grammatical errors. She's got a tough job! Thanks, Babe.

To Isabella, who keeps me grounded, focused and in better health. She and Ranger are on the same page in the dietary department, let me tell you! Thanks, Dr. Mom!

**SPOV**

I stood next to my husband as he expertly backed _Our Someday_ away from the island. This place had become my most favorite. While I loved our Miami home, and the apartment on seven held all the early memories for us, this was ours. We'd built something from nothing here. We'd spent hours pouring over blueprints, selecting the furniture, and decorating the house.

Heck, we'd even done some of it ourselves, as my mind flashed back to the both of us splattered with paint. Carlos had spent a great deal of time meticulously cleaning my body, and afterwards, had me wanting to pick up a brush again, just so he'd have to start all over. Whew! My husband was a _talented_ man.

"Babe, what's up? You moaned," he said, casting me a knowing look. He was all too aware of the power he still wielded over me. Good thing the same could be said of him!

"Oh, just thinking about how much I love it here and the fun we had building this."

Carlos pulled me in front of him, settling his arms under mine while maintaining control of the huge yacht. He kissed the top of my head. "Yeah, we did good. It's beautiful, just like you."

"Ahh, nice, trying to get me back into bed?" I teased. "Haven't you had enough?"

"No way, I'll never get enough of you. I realized that a long time ago." He nuzzled my neck and whispered seductively, "And who says we need a bed?"

My eyes skimmed over several places surrounding us where we'd made love numerous times.

Carlos was nothing if not a man of his word. When he had said on our wedding day that we were going to become intimately acquainted with most of the horizontal surfaces on this yacht, he'd meant it, and had proven beds _were_ optional!

Shaking myself from my naughty memories, I blurted out, "Do you think we're pregnant?"

The thought was constantly on my mind, and I hated not knowing. Hey, I've always been curious!

"Stephanie, you've got to stop worrying about it. It'll happen; be patient."

I tapped my foot in impatience, which caused him to laugh.

We settled into silence, and I decided to go catch a few rays out on the front deck, where the wind would blow over me. The trip to Miami always passed quickly, as the boat made excellent time.

When we arrived home, I unpacked our things, while Carlos went to his office to catch up on work from RangeMan. He'd spend a couple hours in there, for sure. Even though he and Raphael shared most of the responsibilities, Carlos still had managing control, and that left a lot of paperwork to deal with.

I was searching in the kitchen for something to make for dinner, when he finally emerged.

"Hey, Babe, I have to leave early tomorrow morning. The guys got a line on a high-bond skip that's in Mexico. I've brought his brother in before, when he fled down there, and I know where they hide, so I'm going to go."

"Is it safe?" I asked as I found some chicken kabobs with vegetables and placed them on the counter.

"You know I'm always careful," Carlos responded, while getting out ingredients for jasmine rice.

"Well, that doesn't stop me from worrying. You'll be home tomorrow night?"

We rarely, hardly ever, spent the night apart. If he had business at one of the other locations, I went with him. But for some reason, my spidey sense was sounding red alert, and I chewed on my lip, trying to figure out why this was bothering me.

"Should be; that's why I'm leaving early," he answered.

His beautiful, dark chocolate eyes searched my face for a moment, and then he rubbed reassuringly down my arm. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. Something feels off about you going to Mexico."

"It's been a while since I went on an out of the country apprehension, but I promise you, I haven't forgotten how to do it," Carlos teased with just the slightest hint of defensiveness.

Giving myself a mental head slap, I reminded my spidey sense that this was _Ranger_ we were talking about. He was more than capable, and it would be wrong and silly of me to ask him to stay home. Danger was just one piece of the complicated puzzle that made up my husband.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Maybe my hormones are all wanky from being off the pills?" _Nice, __Stephanie. Blame__ the feeling on your hormones!_

I smiled up at him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He immediately took charge of the situation and kissed me to distraction. When we finally separated, I couldn't even remember the topic we'd been talking about!

Our dinner was a simple affair, and had become a shared task that both of us enjoyed. I'd gotten a little better in the kitchen since I'd become Mrs. Carlos Manoso, thank you very much! It wasn't hard, as he was an excellent teacher, and unlike me, very patient.

As we were cleaning up the kitchen, Carlos casually mentioned, "I got the invite for Bobby's Bachelor Party." His eyebrow rose, and a smile creased his face. "Guess where Santos is having it?"

"Not Vegas again!" I whined, rolling my eyes.

It had become a big joke now. Carlos', Tank's, and every other Rangeman's party was held out there. Each time, they challenged themselves to do something different, except the strip club crawl. That, they said, was a time honored tradition. _Whatever._

"Guessed it in one."

"When is it?"

"Last weekend of July. The wedding's in August."

"Yeah, the day after your birthday, right?"

"Yes. What exactly are you planning to do _this_ year, Babe?"

I batted my eyelashes at him innocently as we walked outside to take our evening stroll down the beach. "Me? Oh, I hadn't thought about it yet."

Which wasn't a lie. I needed to give considerable thought to what I was going to do. His birthday was very special to us; it was the beginning of it all, when we'd finally decided to become a couple.

_What could I do this year?_ The possibilities were endless.

Last year, I threw a big party at Shorty's, similar to the one I'd had four years ago—yes, complete with Batman birthday cake. One major difference between the two parties was we actually got to make love without interruption at the apartment on seven last year!

When we returned home, we went straight to our bedroom; it had been a long day. While Carlos was getting ready for bed, I stood in front of the full length mirror in our bedroom, looking at my flat belly and imagining what I'd look like pregnant. _What would it feel like when the baby moved? __Would my breasts get bigger? Would Carlos like that? Would I get my body back after the baby was born?_

Carlos' arms snaked around my middle while I was lost in thought. He placed his large hands on top mine, where they rested on my stomach. His expression softened as our eyes met in the reflection.

"You'll still love me when I'm as big as this house?"

"Babe, I don't think you'll get quite _that_ big."

"You didn't answer the question," I huffed.

"I can't wait to see the effects of our child growing within you, and I know you'll be even sexier to me."

I turned in the circle of his arms, settled my hands on his shoulders, and looked up at him. "Are you one of those guys that think pregnant women are hot?"

"If it's you, yes," he acknowledged as his eyes darkened. "Think of all the different positions we'll have to experiment with as your body changes."

"Speaking of positions…" I ran my hand down his chest, to wrap tightly around his erection. Grasping him firmly, I gave several strokes up and down. His breath hitched. I dropped to my knees, and then settled my mouth around just the tip of his cock. My fingers dug into his ass and pulled him deeper into my mouth.

"Fuck," he growled. "You are so good at that."

Smiling around his cock, but not breaking suction, I looked up at him while he watched me. It was erotic to see the emotions on his face, and witness the pleasure I was able to give him. I settled into my job with gusto!

Carlos pulled back on my hair in an effort to get me to stop. I wasn't ready yet, and I knew he was close. I shook my head, and then increased the tempo of my strokes. He seemed to accept that I wasn't stopping and gave himself over to the rhythm I set. Before long, I felt the twitching begin, and swallowed rapidly to keep up with his release. His grunt of satisfaction was music to my ears.

I continued to suck slowly down his length as his breathing began to return to normal. Leaving there, I kissed up his eight pack, running my tongue between each indentation, and thrilling at his powerful body that was all mine! I lovingly nipped at each of his tight nipples, and then blazed a trail up his neck to find an earlobe. I suck greedily, as his fingers bit into my hips, anchoring me tightly to him.

His voice was husky when he whispered, "Payback time."

The promise had my nether regions instantly getting wetter than they already were. While I enjoyed pleasuring my husband, nothing topped when he turned all his attention on me.

Carlos lay me gently down on the bed. He separated my legs and crawled between them. His lips went straight to work my bundle of nerves, while one finger gently probed inside, and then curled to apply pressure to just the right spot.

Groaning, I arched my neck and simply enjoyed the building tension he was creating. Carlos had mastered the art of stretching out and prolonging my pleasure, but when he added a third finger, I flew over the edge, silently screaming his name.

Before I could recover, I was flipped onto my knees, ass in the air, with Carlos stroking the head of his cock along my moist folds.

"This will be a favorite position in the later months of pregnancy," he growled as he slid his delicious hardness home in one fast movement.

Between moans of pleasure and the slapping of our bodies together, I breathlessly stated, "It already is!"

_And sweet __Tastykakes, was__ it ever!_

It was an indecent hour of morning when he brushed my hair away from my forehead to place a kiss. I cracked one eye open and noticed he was dressed in 'Ranger mode,' ready for business. What an intimidating sight!

"Love ya, Steph. I'll see you late tonight."

Wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, I pulled him in close for a quick hug and murmured, "Love you, too. Try not to get shot."

He softly chuckled. "Don't go crazy, Babe," he said, and then left the room.

**RPOV**

Driving towards downtown to pick up Hector, who'd transferred from Trenton to be closer to his family, I ran through my mental checklist of the take-down. We'd only need a bit of equipment from RangeMan, and after getting those items, we should be at the airport within the hour. If everything went according to plan and the skip wasn't terribly hard to locate, we should be back in Miami by 22:00. That was the tentative plan, anyway.

I pulled into the garage and found Hector already there waiting. I appreciated the dedication of my employees; then again, I pretty much demanded it. Arriving in the control room, I checked in with the overnight guys, and was pleased to find things had been quiet.

When I walked into the supply room, I found Hector already assembling the gear we'd need.

"Hola, boss," he greeted, wearing a big smile. "Did you get la cosa for Brown's parido de soltero?" (Did you get that thing for Brown's bachelor party?)

Nodding my head, I grabbed extra nylon cuffs and ammunition.

Hector continued speaking in broken English. "I can't wait to see all the hermoso chicas and what that loco Santos has planeado." (I can't wait to see all the beautiful girls and what that crazy Santos has planned.)

Loco _was _an adequate description of Lester Santos.

"I just hope we can keep everyone's asses out of jail. We don't want a repeat of last time," I said.

My standing with the Las Vegas PD was shaky, at best. Through the years, I'd had more than one run-in with them. The weapon charge sprang to mind, as well as a couple of other things. _Why did skips always feel the need to run off to Vegas?_

During the last RangeMan bachelor party, two of the guys were arrested for disturbing the peace. Too much alcohol and a dare from Santos were to blame for that incident. Needless to say, I didn't want to visit the Vegas PD again.

With all our gear rounded up, we headed for the airport. When we arrived in Mexico City, I decided to find a private charter service with a small Cessna to fly us to the location, instead of making the tedious, and time consuming, four hour drive across undeveloped roads.

Juan, our pilot, knew of an airstrip within fifteen miles of the area I first wanted to search for the skip. If he wasn't there, we'd have to fan out into a less populated, dense area. I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but wasn't surprised when we were back on the plane flying farther south to check the next location about three hours later.

The small setback had been built into the plan, so we were still on schedule, until I heard both engines start to sputter.

_Well__, shit!_

My eyes quickly shifted to Juan. He looked frantic, and sweat immediately appeared on his forehead. The plane coughed again, sending the instrument panel haywire. Alarms started blaring, and dials dipped to uncomfortable levels.

"¿Puede usted conseguirnos traga con seguridad?" I questioned, already prepared to take the controls myself, quickly losing faith in Juan's ability to handle the situation. ("Can you get us down safely?")

"Tengo nunca tuve que tierra de desplome antes," he spoke rapidly, the panic evident in his voice. ("I've never had to crash land before.")

"Calme abajo," I advised, and grabbed the stick in front of me, glad I'd chosen the co-pilot seat. ("Calm down.")

Flipping the switch to the auxiliary fuel tank only succeeded in making the engine noise worse. _Fuck._ We needed to get on the ground, now!

I told Juan to radio the mayday, while I searched for a clearing to bring us down. There was a small area to the west. I decreased the speed gradually to the engines and dropped our altitude, pitching the plane into a hard turn.

As we circled the would-be landing strip, I knew it was going to be tough to get stopped in the tight place. But there were no other options. Time was slipping away, as the engines began to cut out intermittently.

"Apoyo ustedes mismos!" ("Brace yourselves!") I hollered into my mic. "Va a ser mal rato." ("It's going to be a rough ride.")

When the wheels hit the grass and one engine quit, I knew we'd be lucky to survive the crash. There was no doubt we were going to hit the trees at the end of the clearing. I couldn't get us slowed down enough to prevent it.

One wing was ripped from the plane as we careened sideways. With my feet crammed on the brakes, I ducked my head and thought of Stephanie, praying I would see her face again.

**TBC**

Author's note: *Angie ducks flying debris* Oh no, a cliffie already! What's wrong with me? LOL. Alrighty, how it's goin'? Are you enjoying the story so far? (Well, except for me trying to kill off Ranger.) Please review, I'll try and make it worth your time. ;) Thanks! See ya, next Wednesay! ~Angie


	3. No Bat Signal

Chapter 3-No Bat Signal

**Disclaimer: **If they ain't mine, their JE's…she's got the best one.

**Author's notes: **I'd like to thank all my plot-players for the past week and I want to apologize for not being as clear as maybe I could have been with my question. I'll try to do better in the future. Thanks to all of you who responded, I enjoyed hearing from you and got lots of ideas! You can't believe how you all inspire me and keep me motivated!

Thanks so much, Babes: LilethFaire(I owe you two shout outs for both chapters! Thanks, babe.), EEG (aka, plot-bunny! Love that name!), concetta33, IsabellaManoso, BuffaloWoman, rangergirl1234, Milenab, ty93, kjen, time4tea, and samsararhi (thanks for the visual. Wow, she's pretty!).

As always thanks to Cara for her friendship and support, Love ya! And to Isabella, you're the greatest, Babe! Xoxoxs!

Super Beta Jenny provided technical assistance and guidance, what a terrific job she does! Thanks!

**SPOV**

Arriving at the office around nine, I slowly made the way to my office, stopping periodically to visit with the guys. It had taken a bit of time, but I'd finally developed some friendships with the Miami Rangemen, though not as close as the relationships I had with the Trenton guys, who were like brothers to me.

My responsibilities had become varied, and every day in the office was different, which made it easier to spend the days inside, instead of out in the field. I still got to go on a few takedowns, usually with Carlos, but he and I had decided to forego those now that we were trying to start a family. It was the safest choice.

"Hey, little sis," Raphael called from the doorway of my office.

I looked up from the paperwork I was arranging into piles. "Hola, Rafe. How was your weekend?"

"Well, since you and my brother where off trying to make me a nephew, I was stuck at work," he teased, while leaning against the doorframe.

I raced around my desk, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him inside, shutting the door promptly. "Sshhush!" I scolded. "We don't want _everyone_ to know!" and then murmured, "I can't believe Carlos told you." With hands on hips, I shot him a look. "Besides, who says it'll be a nephew?"

Raphael tweaked my cheek. "C'mon, you _have_ to have a boy. The Manoso family is leaning way too hard to the female side."

"Like you have a problem with females," I said, unable and unwilling to stop my eyes from rolling.

"When they're related to me, I do," he defended, and after my death glare added, "Present company excluded, of course."

"Hmmph," I huffed.

"My sisters are pains in the ass!" Raphael stated defensively, with his muscular arms crossed on his chest. "Celia just called yesterday and wondered when I was going to 'settle down with a nice woman'." He used the invisible quotation marks, before blowing out a loud breath. "I've lost count of the number of times I've had _that_ conversation with my other sisters, and yes, Mama, too." Another long suffering sigh, and then he muttered, "Think I'll join a monastery."

That statement doubled me over with laughter, as I envisioned Raphael in monk's robes living the quiet, celibate life. _Well, he did abstain while he dated a certain someone._

Sobering slightly, I took a good hard look at my brother-in-law. Sure, he talked the 'playboy game', and yeah, he still lived it to a degree, but I could tell he wasn't truly happy. It made me sad and reminded me of another person who hadn't been happy since she left Miami. _Isabella._

Raphael practiced that annoying Manoso ESP, sensing where my train of thought had strayed to, and became quiet, neither of us wanting to broach _that_ subject. After a time, we shifted into business mode, going over several things he needed me to do today that had come up over the weekend.

It was lunch time when I got this terrible feeling of uneasiness, the gnarling in my stomach like I'd had one too many donuts. I tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't leave. Once I'd finished lunch, I stopped by Raphael's office to ask if he'd heard from Carlos—my calls had gone straight to voicemail.

"No, Steph, but that's not unusual. He doesn't call when he's on a take-down, and I know he really wanted to be home tonight, so I'm sure he's busting his ass to make it happen."

Giving a small nod, I left his office, reassuring myself that the worry was for no reason. Carlos was more than capable, I reminded myself again.

At seven, I was on the way home with my ever-present nagging feeling. It hadn't left all day. I went through the motions of dinner and getting ready for bed, with the dark cloud hanging over me. When it was midnight and I still hadn't heard from Carlos, the real panic sat in.

By four a.m., I was sleepless and beyond scared. There was no way Carlos wouldn't have called by now to tell me he was running late or wasn't going to make it home tonight after all. Something was wrong!

Picking up the phone, I tried his cell phone again, and when I received the voicemail message, hung up, dialing Raphael.

He answered drowsily, "This better be good."

"Carlos isn't home and hasn't called!"

"Steph?"

"Yes!" I snapped.

"Have you tried pulling up his tracker?" Raphael asked, sounding more alert.

"Of course. It's offline. I tried not to worry at first, figuring it was just a glitch in the system, but I _know_ something has happened. He'd have called! He wouldn't let me to worry like this," I rambled on, giving voice to all the terrible thoughts that had been running through my mind the last several hours.

"All right, calm down. Take a deep breath. Panic isn't going to help the situation. Let me make a couple calls and pull something up on my computer. I'll call you back in a few minutes."

"Rafe, please hurry. I'm worried."

"Have faith," he reassured me, before abruptly hanging up.

I took the time to pace a path in our bedroom, stopping occasionally to look around and remember all our memories here in this room. I stood for a long time in front of the picture of us entwined in each other's arms, naked, happy, and deeply in love.

_What would I do if I lost him? How would I ever go on?_ He was my world. My air. My reason for being.

I'd never pictured myself this committed to another person, especially after the stunt The Dick had pulled in the early days of our marriage. But here I was, completely and utterly in love with a man who held my present and future in his hands. _Oh, God, please let him be __all right!_

The ring of the phone startled me, but I recovered instantly and raced towards it.

"Yo!" I said, before the phone was even to my ear.

"Okay, I've got some answers, and I'm coming to get you. We're going to Mexico. Get your passport and at least one change of clothes for yourself and Carlos. I'll be there in ten minutes."

With that said, Raphael disconnected before I could begin to pepper him with questions on what the hell was going on and if Carlos was okay.

It took me two attempts to open the safe, but when I'd finally succeeded, I located my passport, and then grabbed a duffle bag, making quick work of stuffing clothes into it. I raced into the bathroom to change clothes and throw my hair into a ponytail. Snagging the Seals hat from the dresser, I slapped it on my head and bolted down the stairs.

When Raphael arrived, I was standing outside the gates, waiting impatiently. The tires screeched on the pavement, and Raphael leaned over to open the passenger's door of his silver Porsche Spider.

"Tell me Carlos is all right," I demanded while buckling my seatbelt as Raphael sped away from the curb.

The only sound for several extremely long seconds was the purr of the high performance engine. My overly taxed patience reached an abrupt end.

"Raphael!" I barked harshly.

"I don't know, Steph," he answered, the words soft and unsure.

"W-w-whaat?" The tears began to well up, and the panic rose to a critical level, choking much needed oxygen from me.

"From the information I got, it appears that Carlos and Hector hired a charter air service to fly them into location." Raphael hesitated a moment, glanced over at me, and then took one hand from the wheel to clasp mine tightly. "The plane suffered mechanical problems. A mayday went out from the pilot."

Tears were now rolling in streams down my face.

"There was a fairly substantial earthquake in that area today—it's not uncommon in that part of the country. Anyway, it prevented them from getting a team out to the crash site."

The sobs began in earnest. _Oh, my God, Carlos! _Panic gave way to hysteria, as my breathing bordered on hyperventilation.

"Please don't think the worst until we know for sure. There were several cell towers damaged by the earthquake; maybe they just can't get a signal to call. You know, it _is _possible to crash land a plane and survive with minimal injuries," Raphael tried to console me with the optimistic approach.

And it was all I needed. I grabbed hold of that piece of information and clung to it for dear life. This was _my_ Batman! I refused to believe that our 'someday' would only last a little over three short years. We had plans, dreams, and a future, damn it! Until I laid my hand on his chest and didn't feel his strong heartbeat, I wasn't giving up hope!

Sucking in a deep breath, I wiped angrily at the tears with the back of my hand, then resolvedly straightened my shoulders.

"Thatta girl!" Raphael responded to the change in my demeanor. "Carlos will be proud of you."

Those words brought a small smile to my face, and I closed my eyes to picture several of the times Carlos made me feel better with just 'Proud of you, Babe.'

When we arrived in Mexico City, we wasted no time contacting the charter service Carlos had used. They gave us a map with the last known location of the plane before they lost transmission.

Raphael rented a Hummer to make the trek over the rough landscape. With supplies loaded in the back and the sun just beginning to rise, we headed south out of town at a break-neck speed.

**RPOV**

Warm fingers checked for a pulse on the left side of my neck. I reached up and grabbed the searching hand in a painful grip.

"¡Madre santa!" Hector shot out. (Holy mother!)

Opening my eyes caused an explosion of pain. Reflexively, I snapped them closed and used my other senses to gauge the surroundings and take inventory of my injuries.

"Are you okay?" I asked Hector, while I tentatively tried to move each leg, relieved when they responded.

"Sí. El brazo se pudo romper sin embargo." (Yes. Arm might be broken, though.)

Thankfully, both of my arms seemed to escape major injury as well. There was the tale tell burning in several areas, but none of the cuts felt very deep.

My head hurt like a sonofabitch. Concussion, no doubt. Not the worst I'd ever had, thank fuck, and if that was all I walked away with after crash landing a plane, well, I'd consider myself one lucky bastard.

This time, I opened my eyes slowly, and relied on my Ranger's torture training to compartmentalize the pain to the back on my mind. There were other things that were more pressing right now. I had to focus on getting us out of here and finding a way to contact Stephanie. If she'd heard about the crash, she was probably worried sick.

I reached into the pocket that held my cell and extracted several broken pieces of what used to be a functioning phone. Turning to look at Hector, I asked for his phone.

"Ninguna señal." (No signal.)

Only a few employees of RangeMan had satellite phones, and Hector wasn't among them. _Shit!_ I looked to Juan, who was still unconscious, slouched over in his seat. Hector checked him for a pulse and gave me a nod, then slapped lightly on Juan's cheek while speaking his name.

A groan sounded from deep in his throat as he slowly came around.

"¿Qué sucedió?" (What happened?) he asked, then answered himself. "¡Nos estrellamos!" (We crashed!)

"Sí, y vivo hablar de él. Es usted lastimó?" ("Yes, and are alive to tell about it. You hurt?")

It took him a few seconds to decide.

"Se pega mi pie" ("My foot is stuck.")

We spent the next hour freeing Juan from the plane. His foot had been wedged between two pieces of twisted metal. When I asked if he had a cell phone, he hung his head and told us he had been late for work that morning and had forgotten his phone at home.

_Fuck!_

Checking my watch, I realized we'd have to take cover for the night. Between Hector's broken arm, now field splinted, and Juan's banged up foot, neither were able to hike in the dark through the uncivilized area. And considering my head injury, it would be safer for me to start out fresh at first light and leave Hector with Juan. We ate the granola bars, apples, and water that were in our packs, and then made makeshift beds in the cargo compartment of the plane. The main part of the fuselage was still fairly intact, most of the damage being to the front of the plane and the wing that was torn off on the right side.

Hector took the first guard shift. Since it was suspected I had a concussion, I needed to be awakened every couple hours, so I'd take the second shift. Juan would take the hours right before dawn.

As I lay down on the hard floor of the plane, I thought of Stephanie and how worried she must be by now. I hated that she was suffering, worrying, and there was nothing to be done about it. After laying there for what seemed like forever, I felt the pull of sleep and let it take me under.

It felt as if I'd only been asleep for a few minutes, when Hector shook me awake, and yet, after checking my watch, saw it had been nearly two hours.

"Boss?"

Though the headache had receded some, it still took be a minute to push it back. I sat up slowly and nodded at Hector, then took a position outside the plane with my gun across my lap and senses on high alert. We didn't need any trouble from the corrupt militias that plagued this country.

The three hour shift drug by in excruciating long minutes, but I found my zone and stayed there until it was time to wake Juan for his turn.

The sound awoke me instantly, so I was already sitting up and awake when Juan came hobbling into the plane.

"¡Acabo de oír tiros en las maderas!" he whispered frantically. ("I just heard gunshots in the woods!")

**TBC**

**Author's notes:** *Angie ducks behind Ranger…ohh, what a nice place to be!* Oops, I did it again! Two cliffies in a row. Should I say, "Sorry?" LOL. I hope everyone is having a great week. I'd love to hear from you in review! See ya, next Wednesday!


	4. Crossfire

**Baby Wishes**

Chapter 4-

Disclaimer: The characters you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just messin' with them! Babblefish is responsible for any and all translation errors.

Author's notes: Holy Batsmoke, Babes! You plot-players really stepped up to the plate this week! What a wonderful response I received, and great ideas, too. The chapter that the question applied to is nearly complete. You gals made it easy with your great ideas! Thanks so very much: LeiaB, LilethFaire, rangerlovin, FairTaxGirl, EEG, financebabe, Milenab, IsabellaManoso, ty93, concetta33, forever babe, BeautifulBabeForever, writersblock24, Barb4psu, Pril C, samsararhi, AmandaBabe, time4tea, KricketWilliams, & girliegirl79!

Special thanks to my writing support team Cara and Isabella. Babes, you keep me grounded and on the right track. Love ya both!

Thanks to Jenny (JenRar) for providing this story with her Betaing talents!

**SPOV**

The road, if you could call the dirt path a road, was unbelievably rough. I had a firm grip on the 'oh, shit!' handle for the majority of the ride. Twice, I'd stopped myself from telling Raphael to slow down. I was desperate—frantic, actually—to find Carlos, but I was also concerned about getting there in one piece! The Hummer handled the terrain as it was designed to do with no fuss, unlike one of its two passengers. This born and bred Jersey girl had a hard time with ruts big enough to easily shallow a compact car.

As we bounced through another crater, I gritted my teeth together as my ass left the seat by a good two inches, and then landed back down again…hard! Right now, though, a bruised ass was the least of my concerns.

"Are we there yet?" I grunted out, a few minutes and another huge rut later.

A slight grin peeked out on Raphael's face, but it didn't reach his eyes.

_He is just__ as concerned as __I am,_ I thought to myself.

Raphael checked the GPS coordinates, and then nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'm going to find a spot to leave the truck. We'll have to do the rest of the search on foot."

Within the next fifteen minutes, we pulled off the road and ran around to the back of the Hummer to begin strapping on backpacks and weapons.

Memories of happier times flashed through my mind. _Carlos double checking the straps of my pack, at the foot of some mountain in __France, and then__ kissing me with an intensity that left my knees weak, before grabbing my hand to lead us onto a trail. _The smile and the look of utter happiness on his face warmed my heart, even now. _We _have_ to find him __alive!_ I thought fiercely to myself.

Raphael slammed the door shut, beeped the locks, and then turned to me. "Ready?"

"Yep! Let's go find my husband!"

We fell into a steady rhythm, with Raphael a couple of steps ahead of me, on the alert, his head whipping from side-to-side checking for possible threats.

My eyes scanned the dense area, as well, while the sweat ran down my back in rivets. I could practically feel my hair turning into a massive frizz ball. The air was humid and stifling. Large bugs that could have been mistaken for small birds buzzed around me, but I swatted them away quickly and tried not to think about the creepy things!

We'd been hiking through the thick underbrush for nearly an hour, when Raphael held up his right hand and drew to an immediate halt. He dropped to his knees, and I quietly fell in directly behind him, peeking over his shoulder to see why we'd stopped.

In a clearing ahead, we could see three men. Two of the men were dragging the other very uncooperative man by his arms. His mouth was gagged, and he fought frantically against the restraints at his hands and feet.

They stopped, tore the gag away, and spoke in rapid Spanish to the man lying at their feet. We couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but it became clear that they didn't like his answer, when the bigger of the two standing men withdrew a gun and shot the man on the ground in the knee.

The sound of the gun and the man's scream sent several birds squawking from their perches. I threw a hand to my mouth in effort to hold my own scream inside. Raphael's head whipped quickly around, and though he didn't speak a thing, the look in his eyes sent a message loud and clear: _Keep quiet! Don't make a sound!_

I nodded my head and looked back to the scene in front of us. The Spanish was flying again, only louder to get over the whimpering of the wounded man.

"Hombre, usted incurrió en una equivocación seria que se volvía aquí, hombre," the bigger man said. ("Man, you made a serious mistake coming back here.")

""Después de double-crossing nuestro jefe y de escapar con su vida la primera vez, usted no pensaría que él sería bastante estúpido de volver a esta área, usted?" the other man asked conversationally. ("After double-crossing our boss and escaping with his life the first time, you wouldn't think he'd be stupid enough to return to this area, would you?")

"Amigo, usted no puede fijar estúpido," the bigger man said, which caused them both to share a hearty laugh. ("Friend, you can't fix stupid.")

While they were laughing, I whispered to Raphael, "We can't just sit here and watch them kill this poor guy!"

Raphael's eyes widened, and his voice was quiet, but stern, when he asked, "What other choice do we have? This isn't our problem. We're here to find Carlos, remember?"

"Of course, I remember," I hissed through my teeth. "But I'm not going to sit here and watch a murder be committed."

"Maybe he deserves it," Raphael observed.

I sucked in a breath and shot a glare at my brother-in-law.

Another shot was fired, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from shouting out in surprise.

The man on the ground howled in pain, while he twisted around trying to hold both of his injured knees.

"Son of a bitch!" Raphael swore under his breath. "That's Carlos' skip, Lotario."

"Which one?" I asked.

Raphael's eyes moved to the man on the ground.

_Well, shit! _I jumped to my feet. Without thinking, grabbed the map out of Raphael's hand, and then stumbled into the clearing, while Raphael scrambled to stop me.

**RPOV**

I already had an idea of the direction in which I'd heard the shot come from, but I asked Juan just to confirm it. He agreed with me that the shot came from the south of our location. We left Juan hidden in the plane with Hector's clutch piece, while Hector and I double-timed it to the south.

It was several minutes later when a second shot rang out directly in front of us. We fell to ground and crawled the remaining fifty feet on so on our bellies. We peered through a bush and found a scene that caused my heart to skip a beat. I shook my head vigorously in an effort to clear the image, sure that the concussion was causing me to hallucinate what I was actually seeing.

Stephanie, my wife and the future mother of my unborn children, was standing between a man on the ground and two larger men, each armed with guns, which were pointed at her!

"¡Jesús dulce!" Hector blew out. (Sweet Jesus!)

_How the hell had she __gotten__ here? And what the _fuck_ was she doing?_

Taking a deep breath, I took a moment to center myself and form a plan to get us all out of this cluster-fuck in one piece.

Apparently, she'd surprised the two armed men, as well, since they stood gaping at her, wearing shocked expressions on their faces.

Looking at them closely, I recognized the men. They were hired mercenaries for one of the most notorious drug cartel families in this area of Mexico. They were professionals, who didn't leave witnesses. _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

Stephanie gave a little nervous giggle and threw up her hand in greeting. "Hi!" she called out. "Sorry if I scared you." Stephanie looked at the guns pointed at her head. "I'm lost," she sighed, seemingly unaware of the man near her feet, who appeared to have passed out after he was shot the second time.

"Americanos locos," the smaller man said loud enough for her to hear. (Crazy Americans)

"I'm sorry," she giggled again, playing the ditzy airhead role to a tee. "I don't speak Spanish." _Liar._

"Loco, sí. Pero I don' el coger de la mente de t loco," the larger man sneered, as he looked up and down Stephanie's body in the universal language that didn't need translation, and then just to make sure she understood, adjusted the bulge in his pants. (Crazy, yes. I don't mind fucking crazy.)

_Over my dead body!_

I tightened the grip on my gun, and using a hand code, I motioned for Hector to take out the man closest to us, leaving me the other. I lined up my shot.

"Just drop him," I told Hector in a hushed whisper. "We don't need to deal with two dead bodies."

At the slight nod of my head, _three_ shots rang out simultaneously. I watched in horror as the man I hit reflexively got a shot off before he fell to the ground.

I raced towards my wife, but before I could reach her, she was tackled by my brother. The bullet meant for her ripped into his back as they fell.

"Stephanie!" I called out, and then dropped to my knees next to them, Raphael lying on top of her.

"Carlos?" she sobbed.

"Yeah, Babe," I answered, and clasped her hand for a moment, before releasing it to tear open Raphael's shirt.

When the fabric gave way, I was relieved to find the bullet-proof vest underneath. He was just unconscious from the hit. The relief gave way to pure anger. _Good, _I thought. _Wh__en__ he wakes up, I'll be able to kill him with my bare hands for getting Stephanie into this mess!_

Carefully, I rolled Raphael off of my wife, and then gathered her up in my arms. Stephanie's tears soaked into my shirt as clung to me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Hector check both of the armed men, pistol whipping the one into unconsciousness, before slapping cuffs on each of them and leaving them face down in the dirt. It was a struggle for him, since he could only use his right hand. I'd bound Hector's broken, left arm to his chest in a makeshift field splint last night. But he completed the task in minimal time.

Hector then crossed to the man on the ground. With his gun held steady on him, he used his boot to flip the man onto his back. The man groaned loud and long. _At least he's alive, _I thought, and he had the woman in my arms to thank for that. I closed my eyes and buried my face in her mass of curls. _Thank, Dios, she's alive!_

Hector's laugh surprised me and caused me to whip my head up in his direction.

"It's Lotario!" he answered the unasked question.

"We always get our man," Stephanie murmured into my neck.

The fury was instant and a raging fire that burned through my blood. "Is that what this was all about?" I demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her out in front of me so that I could see her eyes.

She gaged my mood correctly, nodded her head, and then dropped her gaze from mine. She knew I was good and truly pissed!

Rarely had I completely lost my temper with my wife, but this was one of those occasions. "Dammit, Stephanie, a skip is _never_ worth your life!" Then I dropped my voice and added softly, "What if you're pregnant?"

When she sucked in her breath and searched my eyes frantically, I realized she hadn't even considered that. "Oh, Carlos, I'm so sorry!" she whispered.

My anger was an ugly thing when left unleashed. I rose to my feet and took a few steps away from her in an effort to regain my composure.

I didn't want her to witness how my hands were shaking with the need to hit something, and if I was honest with myself, the unabashed fear of losing her. This little scene had been entirely too close for comfort.

Back several years ago, I'd suffered through several scenarios like this—most of them resulting in some sort of explosion or the death of one of my cars—events where I truly worried that her luck had run out.

A picture of her, still and lifeless, falling into my arms at Stiva's, flashed across my mind. I gritted my teeth against the memory and took a deep, fortifying breath. _And that was before she was your entire world, as she is now, Manoso._

Looking back at the woman who held my heart in her tiny hands, I felt the anger slip away. Dios, help me, she'd always been spontaneous. It was one of the things I usually found so endearing, except when it came to her safety.

She looked up at me, her sapphire eyes a brighter blue as they filled with tears, and the need to comfort her took the place of the mad. I crossed to my wife and dropped down in front of her again. Tipping her head up gently, I used my thumbs to wipe the tears away as they fell and looked into those beautiful eyes.

"Don't _ever_ put yourself in the crossfire again," I warned. "I mean it, Stephanie. Nothing is worth your life. Not even mine."

Her fingers clenched the material of my shirt. "I thought you might be dead. I didn't want to believe it, but when you didn't call and then when I called Raphael and he found out your plane crashed, then they were going to kill this guy right in front of us…" she rambled.

"Babe, deep breaths," I soothed, holding her tightly to my chest. The adrenaline rush let-down was causing her whole body to tremble—that, and the near brush with death, no doubt. I took a deep breath, as well. We both needed to regroup.

A long groan came from Raphael. He blinked his eyes opened, searched his surroundings in confusion, and then recognition hit when he saw me. "Hey, bro," he said through a strained voice. "Good to see ya."

"You, too. I'd thank you for taking the bullet for Stephanie, but then, you let her get into the dangerous situation to start with." My tone was condescending, and I wasn't sorry for it.

Raphael's eyes flashed with emotion, which he held in check, before throwing his arm over his eyes and releasing another loud groan.

"Carlos, it wasn't his fault! It was mine!" Stephanie stated, tugging on my arm.

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I know, I know, usually I'm denying it's my fault, but this time, it really was. Please don't be mad at him. I know it was stupid, and I didn't think, but you should be mad at me, not him. Raphael told me this wasn't our problem, that we were only here to find you, but I didn't listen." She dropped her head and brushed some dirt from my pant leg.

Here's the thing, my anger- while it ran white hot at times- never lasted long when it was directed at Stephanie. Actually, it never has. Her presence has always had a calming effect on me, even in the beginning of our friendship.

Moments like these made me realize, again, how lucky we both were to finally be sharing a life together, and dammit, I hadn't even taken a minute to give her a proper kiss! I was dying to do more, but that would have to wait until we were alone.

Reaching out, I grabbed her under the arms, and then lifted us both to our feet. Cupping her face between my hands, I kissed her with all the love I held for her. She moaned into my mouth, as her tongue slid along mine, and she molded her body against me. We shared several long moments of peace while we used our mouths to reaffirm our connection. The taste and feel of her smoothed out the jagged edges of my raw emotions.

Pausing to catch our breaths, we rested our foreheads together, until we heard Raphael loudly clear his throat. I turned and looked down at him with irritation.

"Some help here, please," he pleaded, waving his hand up at me.

Once I was sure Stephanie was steady, I extended a hand to my brother. With a firm tug, which elicited a painful groan from him, he rose to his feet. Leaning in, I spoke soft enough that only he heard me. "We'll finish the discussion of fault on the mats."

His expression was remorseful and resigned. _Good, at least _he _shared my opinion that he'd royally fucked up._

Raphael and I spent the next few minutes, placing tourniquets on both of Lotario's legs, before deciding what to do with the two mercenaries. We sent Stephanie and Hector back to get Juan from the plane, secured Lotario to a tree, and then hauled the other two men back towards the their truck. Lotario had—after some encouragement from my fists—told us they'd only hiked in about a mile from the west.

We left the men handcuffed inside to their truck, field bandaged, blindfolded and slowly coming around. We made sure they didn't see us as we crisscrossed a path back to where we'd left Lotario … not that they were in any condition or had the ability to come after us.

When we rendezvoused back at Lotario's location, everyone was there. Raphael and I took turns fireman-carrying Lotario, while Hector and Stephanie helped Juan limp along. The nearly three mile trek seemed to take forever.

Raphael's back had to be killing him as badly as my head hurt me. Seeing the Hummer parked under a tree was like finding an oasis in the desert. We loaded everyone in, and Raphael whipped the truck around to head us back towards Mexico City.

With Stephanie curled into my side in the backseat, I rested my head on hers and mentally gave a silent prayer of thanks that we, mainly her, were all safe. The last coherent thought I had before I fell into a light sleep, was that I couldn't wait to be home, alone with my wife.

**TBC**

**Author's notes: **I delivered my promise! No cliffie this week! Think I'll just lean my head up against the other side of Ranger and relax, since I don't have to worry about dodging any debris this week. Please take a moment to review. I really, really appreciate it! Have a great week! ~Angie


	5. Nice

**Chapter 5-**_**Nice**_

**Disclaimer:** So they're still not mine and I'm still not making a dime!

**Author's notes:**I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has put this story or me (as an author) on their favorites list. That's a great honor. Thanks! I'd also like to say thanks to those anonymous reviewers that I can't respond to directly.

Ok, on to my plot-players. Babes, you blow me away! Several of you had very similar ideas, and I'm going to try and work those into the story. Thank for all your responses: LeiaB, KricketWilliams, forever babe, concetta33, samsararhi, fairytaleprincess03, Barb4psu, ty93, EEG, Pril C, IsabellaManoso, rangerluvin, FairTaxGirl, and LiletheFaire.

I promised special shouts out to the best ideas, but I couldn't narrow it down, so I'm going to give a couple out:

Most Intellectual Gift Idea: LeiaB-This _is _one of the gifts Stephanie will be giving Ranger! Good job, Babe!

Most Unique Idea(s): concetta 33 & LiletheFaire—Wow, both of you, just Wow! Thanks so much!

Sexiest Idea: Pril C-Yum! If I don't use this for his birthday, I think it'll work for Christmas! Thanks!

Special thanks to the real-life Isabella, who's always available to me as a friend, a sounding board for my writing, my _secretary _and even a stand in life coach, LOL! Love ya, Babe!

To Cara, Babe, you know I've got your back, on the sunny days and the raining ones, too! Thanks for everything you do for me even when I know your plate is full. Love ya! Long distance XOXOs!

Dear SuperBeta Jenny, thank you for all the time and talent that you give to this story. And thanks for keeping me in line, even when you're saying, "You're going to do WHAT? Oh, hell, no!" Ha, ha!

**RPOV**

It was nearly 23:00 when we finally arrived home. Dealing with all the paperwork for Lotario, who'd had to be hospitalized in Mexico City, had taken a chunk of time.

Hector's arm was indeed broken, and he was now sporting a cast, which he was _not _happy about. He had insisted on staying behind as guard on Lotario until he was ready to be released and transferred back to the U.S. Raphael would make the return flight back to pick them both up in a couple of days.

Stephanie had slept pretty much from the time we'd left the hospital, only waking briefly as we went through the process of getting home.

Leaning on the steering wheel, I looked over at her asleep in the passenger's seat. Her left hand rested high on my right thigh, her head was turned towards me, with her delicate mouth slightly opened as she took long, deep breaths, and her hair hung loosely over most of the right side of her face. She was a picture that I'd never tire of looking at.

I gently lifted her hand from my thigh, kissed the palm, and then set it in her lap, before easing out of the car. When I opened her door and reached inside to lift her from the seat, she slowly came awake.

She moistened her lips, blinked a couple of times, and peered through the windshield. "We're home?" she questioned, her tone measuring equal parts surprise and confusion.

"Yeah, Babe, we're home."

"How come I don't remember any of it?" she asked as she accepted my hand for assistance out of the car.

"You've been asleep for at least five hours. That might have something to do with it."

"Don't be a smartass, Carlos," she teased. "I do feel well rested," she crooned, running her hand slowly up my arm while we walked into the house.

To say I was tired would be a severe understatement. My eyes burned and felt gritty from lack of sleep, and my body demanded rest—all except _one_ major part. It had sprung to life and was rearing to go, brought on solely by the invitation in Stephanie's voice.

_Who was I to deny my wife?_

Cocking an eyebrow, I turned to face her. "Shower first?"

"Let's multi-task and do both," she offered, pulling on our joined hands and leading us up the stairs.

I could definitely get on board with that idea!

Once we arrived in our bathroom, she went directly to start the shower, and I crossed to the sink to shave nearly two days of stubble off my face.

"Leave it," she said.

When I looked up in the mirror to warn her about beard rash, I found her already naked and crooking her finger at me.

"Babe, I'll tear up your skin like this."

"I guess I'll just have to start without you." She smiled, and then stepped under the water.

The clear glass afforded me a perfect view. Stephanie picked up her shower gel—the fragrance of it was like an aphrodisiac to me—and began running her hands down her body. My cock got harder as I watched her slowly circle her breasts. The smell of the shower gel began to fill the room.

Grabbing my shaving cream, I quickly applied it, and then picked up the razor. I was about half done with the job, when I glanced over at her through the mirror. The image caused me to jerk up and take a nick out of my skin.

"Shit!"

My exclamation seemed to go unheard by Stephanie, as one of her hands pinched at a nipple, while the other rubbed between her legs. Her eyes were closed, head tipped back, as water cascaded down the front of her body. It was an erotic sight that chased away any of the tired I had been feeling just a few short moments ago.

I made a few more swipes down my face, and then called it good. It certainly wasn't my usual standard—I could see a few areas that were missed—but it was going to do, because my wife had started something I had every intention of finishing!

Stepping into the shower, I slid up close to her back, and then leaned in and whispered, "Can I be of assistance?"

"Be my guest," she responded.

My hands traveled down the curve of each of her hips, and then forward to replace the spot her fingers had vacated. She lifted her arms to wrap them around my neck. Stephanie's body arched, and she rested her head on my shoulder, turning slightly to place a kiss below my ear.

She gave a long moan. "You are so much better at that than I am."

"I know what you like, Babe."

"That you do. Oh…God…yes," she urged as I slipped two fingers into her moist core.

I ground myself against her ass; the smell of her shower gel filled the shower enclosure and was really starting to get to me. Since she'd purchased the stuff and brought it into our home, I finally understood her obsession all these years with my Bvlargi.

Her breathing picked up, and she began to pant. When the orgasm hit, her cries echoed through the room. My control snapped.

Quickly, I walked us forward, until Stephanie was pressed against the cool marble of the shower. She gasped from the sensation of warm skin meeting cold surface.

"Hard and fast?" I said, more as a warning, than a question.

Stephanie wasted no time throwing my earlier words back at me. "You know what I like, Batman."

And fuck, did I.

I lifted her left leg to a ninety degree angle, held it in place with my left hand, and then bent at the knees a fraction, found the alignment, and slammed home in a powerful thrust up that had us both crying out in pleasure. I set a rapid pace. Stephanie rose to her tiptoes, but couldn't keep the stance for long, so I lifted her right leg and supported all her weight.

A couple of steps back from the wall changed the depth of penetration and allowed her to push back against me with her arms.

"Harder, Carlos, please!" she begged. Her body tightened and fell over the edge of another orgasm as I fulfilled her wish. Still, she kept bucking back towards me.

I slid out of her, which brought an immediate protest.

"No!" Stephanie cried.

"Just changing positions," I soothed, turning her to face me and tipping her head up for a kiss. When we finally pried our mouths apart, I assured her, "I'm not near done with you yet."

Backing up, I sat down on the bench that stretched across the back wall of the shower. Stephanie looked down at my straining erection pointing due north.

"Nope," she agreed. "Not even close to done." She stepped up onto the bench, feet planted firmly on either side of my hips, and then slowly slid her body down in front of me.

When her pussy was directly in front of my face, I halted her movement by placing my hands on her ass. "Stop right there."

I wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her forward, until my lips found exactly what I wanted, delving in with hunger, using teeth, fingers, and tongue to devour the essence that was uniquely Stephanie.

She clenched her fingers in my hair with a grip that bordered on painful. When I felt her thighs begin to tremble with the effort of holding the partial squat, I released her, and she continued the downward journey, not stopping until she reached the tip of my cock.

"Bulls-eye," she purred, and freefell, letting gravity take care of linking us together. "Mmmm," she purred again, like a contented kitten.

No matter how many times I slid into her softness, the feeling still caused my breath to hitch. _Would I ever get enough of this woman? _Dios, I didn't think it was possible.

Stephanie turned from contented kitten to roaring tiger, attacking my neck with her teeth and pinching at my nipples. I returned the favor, grasping her breasts and holding them firmly while she began to move. She tightened her inner muscles around my cock as she slowly moved up, and then slid back down quickly. I aided the effort by lifting her hips with the movement.

Our bodies knew the triggers to drive or prolong each other's pleasure. We took turns alternating between the two. Then it just became too much to wait any longer. We drove ourselves to completion, shouting the other's name as we rode the climatic wave.

From the place on my shoulder where she'd collapsed, Stephanie gave a long yawn. "Suddenly, I'm really tired."

I smiled into the curve of her neck. "That was some workout."

She laughed, a light bubbling sound that always made my world a little brighter. "You can say that again. Think we can get showered and make it to bed without falling asleep?"

"We can help each other," I offered.

Stephanie stood and giggled. "I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea."

When I reached for her, she warned, "Keep your hands to yourself, Carlos, or we'll end up sleeping on the floor of this shower."

"I've slept in worse places, Babe."

"I'm sure you have, but I've become spoiled by those luxurious sheets on our bed, and right now, they're calling my name."

We finished showering, fairly quickly, though I couldn't resist sneaking a couple of touches and a few kisses. Give me a break. She was wet and naked—except for that glow on her face that told the world she'd been well loved.

Sleep was found the moment our bodies spooned together. The position had brought us comfort, from the early days of our friendship, to our present day happiness. She belonged in my arms forever.

**SPOV**

It was a rare day when I woke to find my husband still asleep next to me. Today was one of those days. I cuddled into his warm, strong body and savored the feeling. There were few things better than being in bed with Carlos.

Now that I thought about it, there wasn't _anything_ better than where I was at this moment. Not even Ella's delicious chocolate cake, a donut from Tasty Pastry, or my mother's famed pineapple-upside down cake. Nope, not a single thing.

"Deep thoughts, Babe?" his sleep-laced voice rasped.

The sound startled me, causing me to jump slightly. Carlos tightened his hold.

"Just thinking about how much I like being in bed with you."

"There's nothing better," he agreed, pulling my hair back and placing a tender kiss to the skin he exposed.

"My thoughts exactly," I sighed. "Damn, the last couple of days have been long, haven't they? I'm looking forward to seeing Julie today."

Carlos' body immediately stiffened. Well, all the parts that weren't already hard, that is, and the reason why caused me to smile.

"She's bringing that _boy_ with her, isn't she?" he growled.

"His name is Galvin as you well know. You've personally searched his family's history practically all the way back to the Mayflower."

"Babe."

"Carlos," I said in an equal tone. Two could play this game.

Silence filled the room for several long minutes. My husband was gauging his words carefully. This was one of those subjects we didn't see eye to eye on. I refused to let him get in the way of Julie enjoying this phase of her life.

Carlos rolled me over, leaning down to place a kiss on my lips, and then twisted a curl around his index finger. We never had a serious discussion without facing each other, usually linking our hands. It was hard to get mad and blow up when his touch—and mine, for him—kept me calm and centered the way it did.

Still, Julie was a beautiful young woman, who was entitled to share in the joys—and yes, probably a few heartaches—of those critical teenage years. Her overprotective father needed to take a chill pill, and I'd go to battle for her if need be. I loved her as much as I would any child I bore.

"It's important to make sure she's safe," Carlos countered.

"I agree, but she really likes Galvin. He seems like a great kid, and as your extensive research found, he comes from a good, law-abiding family. Give him a chance."

"Stephanie, you only met him for a short time when you dropped Julie off at the mall with her friends." _Oh, he wasn't going to intimidate me by using my full name._

"That's true, it was only a few minutes," I agreed. "But isn't it you who has always said I have excellent instincts?"

_Score one for Stephanie Manoso!_

Carlos let that hang in the air for a while. Finally, he said, "Okay, you win. I'll be…_nice, _when he's here."

"Nice is good. What I'm looking for is you not scaring the shit out of him with your bad-ass persona."

He raised an innocent looking eyebrow.

"Oh no, you don't. You know exactly what I'm talking about! Remember Josh? That poor boy nearly pissed his pants when you casually flashed the gun and knife under your coat at that party Rachel had."

"He had no business putting his hands all over Julie like he did."

"He did nothing inappropriate," I said, not resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "He was her date, and need I remind you who's talking about having their hands all over someone?"

"You're my wife. That's different."

"I haven't always been your wife, and you had your hands all over me on many occasions before I was. Let's see…what about the alley next to the bond's office?"

"Again, that's different. You were an adult, able to defend yourself. She's sixteen."

"Defend myself against Ranger Manoso? That's funny." I laughed. "Besides, Julie's probably better at protecting herself at sixteen than I'll ever be in my lifetime. Have faith in her."

Carlos blew out a breath, closed his eyes for a minute, and then nodded his head.

We got out of bed, dressed, and headed downstairs. Carlos took off for a long run down the beach. I knew he needed it to clear his head and prepare for this visit. His little girl was turning into a woman, and he was suffering from growing pains.

Breakfast was on the table waiting for him when he got back. He poured coffee for himself and warmed up my cup, before sitting next to me. Over our light breakfast, we decided to keep lunch simple by grilling burgers and chicken breasts. It would be easier, as we'd be able to lounge on the deck with them, and Carlos could be distracted by the grill. That was a good thing.

The doorbell rang at exactly eleven o'clock. I grabbed Carlos' hand, and we marched to the front door to greet them together.

"Smile," I said sweetly as I reached for the door handle.

"Babe." _Yeah, that was probably asking too much._

I flashed him a bright smile as example anyway, before turning back to greet Julie and Galvin. They stood shoulder to shoulder, looking nervous, but trying to hide it behind smiles of their own.

"For you, Mrs. Manoso," Galvin said shyly as handed me a bouquet of flowers. I noted Julie already had one of the blooms tucked behind her ear. The light color of it was a contrast to her beautiful dark hair.

We all stood awkwardly in the front foyer, everyone trying to judge the mood and find a way to cut the tension.

"Thank you, Galvin. They're very pretty. Please, call me Steph or Stephanie," I offered in an attempt to lighten things a bit, and then turned to my husband. "And this is Carlos."

Galvin extended his hand to Carlos.

Carlos looked at it for a minute, and then offered his own. "You may address me as Mr. Manoso."

"Yes, sir," Galvin whimpered.

I looked down at their clasped hands and noticed the tight grip they were sharing. The tips of Galvin's fingers were changing color.

"This is_nice?"_ I hissed into Carlos' ear, covering the reprimand by dropping a kiss to his lobe and nipping at it with my teeth to get his attention, before pulling away.

_It looked like it was going to be another long day!_

**TBC**

**Author's notes:** I hope you enjoyed this installment of Baby Wishes. Please drop me a review! I'll be asking the most scandalous plot-player question I've ever asked. It's a doozy, and only reviewers get to respond to it. ;) Thanks!

Now, I'm going to take Ranger into the other room and 'punish' him for his behavior with Galvin, hopefully we'll have it all straightened out by next Wednesday! See ya then! ~Angie


	6. Early Supicions

**Chapter 6-Early Suspicions**

Disclaimer: All characters in this chapter belong to JE, except the 'adorable' Raphael…he's all my creation!

Author's notes: Well, well, the plot-player question sure stirred some people up! It was the biggest response I have ever received! Thank you so much! It was a touchy subject and I appreciate everyone that PM'd me. Your personal opinions and thoughts on this subject, and all the questions I ask, make me consider things from several different angles. I will revisit your messages as I get closer to writing that story. Thanks to all of you, even those you said, "Have you lost your ever-loving mind?" Hee, hee.

Special thanks to each of the plot-players for this week: jrfanfrommo, Barb4psu, FairTaxGirl, BeautifulBabeForever, concetta33, AmandaBabe, LeiaB, Ryl, forever babe, samsararhi, janetfan150, Milenab, Dikent, EEG, LilethFaire, writersblock24, rangergirl1234, kjen, Pril C, DawnW, leahsgramma, ty93, CindyKay, Mik N'jirnav, BuffaloWoman, time4tea, fairytaleprincess03, rangerluvin, Isabella Manoso, KricketWilliams & cinmes.

I'd like to take a moment to thank the 'Real Life Isabella'. She's been a dear friend, pre-reader and sounding board to me for nearly a year now. Thanks so much, Kitten! LOL. Sorry, couldn't help myself! Love ya!

To Cara, Babe, we've been partners in crime for nearly two years now! Wow! Thanks for everything you do for me, especially for your friendship! Xoxos! Love ya, Babe.

And to my wonderful Beta, Jenny (JenRar), this Babe rocks! She is a complete professional with her editting talents, and also, isn't afraid to give me her opinion, even if she thinks it goes against what I'm thinking. I appreciate that immensely. Thanks, Babe!

**RPOV**

Something was going on with my wife. I had a pretty good idea what it was, too. I consulted the calendar on my desk again. I wasn't sure about other guys, because fuck knows this wasn't something guys talk about, but I was the planner in our relationship, so it went without saying that I kept better track of Stephanie's menstrual cycles than she did.

And by my calculations, she was a week late. Still, Stephanie had always been unpredictable, even with this. About a year into our marriage, she was nearly three weeks late one time and hadn't realized it. Of course, I had, and I'd been sure we were pregnant.

In fact, I went so far as to bring a pregnancy test home for her to use. I had to smile at the memory; the look on her face when I handed it to her…priceless. She had no idea how late her period was.

We would have been thrilled to be pregnant at that time, but really, we had wanted more time together before having a baby. As it turned out, the test was negative, and she got her period two days later.

If I had just waited a couple more days, I could have saved us the small disappointment, as we'd actually considered the possibility of our first child before she'd taken the test.

I have always learned from my mistakes, and there was no way I was bringing the subject up this time. Not when we were actively pursuing trying to get pregnant. She'd have to come to me, and she would... Stephanie desperately wanted to be pregnant. I'd be patient and just wait.

A thought occurred to me. I wondered when she'd figure it out and how she'd go about telling me. This could be fun, as we both enjoyed surprising each other. _Does__ she already know? _A silly smile creased my face. Thankfully, I was alone in my office—well, until Raphael walked in, at least, and I couldn't drop it before he saw. I tried quickly slamming down the blank face, but knew I was too late as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Someone's happy. Is Stephanie hiding under your desk again 'looking for the paper you dropped'?"

"No, she's in her office, smartass. What do you want?"

"I want to know what you're smiling about, 'cause I know it isn't that pile of paperwork in front of you."

I gave him a cold stare and remained quiet.

"Oh, let me guess," Raphael said, plopping down in the chair directly in front of my desk. "Santos sent you the itinerary for Brown's bachelor party this weekend? He's being such an ass about not telling anyone what we're doing."

"Raphael, I don't have time for this. There's a multi-million dollar company to run here, with our names on it, remember?"

He went on, undeterred by my irritation. "So, not Santos. Did you get the new Porsche flyer? Shit! The latest model…I _have_ to have it."

Trying to ignore him, I logged onto my computer and started checking emails. Raphael plowed on, still not getting the picture. No, he got the picture; he was just trying to piss me off…which he was succeeding at.

_Maybe he was looking for a round down on the mats? Had someone accidently brought up Isabella's name?_ I looked at him closely. That wasn't it; his eyes were lit with mischief, not anger. Apparently, this was just Raphael being my annoying big brother, which was something he was really good at!

Raphael sucked in a deep, startled breath, causing me to look up at him. Then he blurted out the words, and I confirmed them by jumping straight out of my seat. "I got it... Stephanie's pregnant!"

"Shut your damn mouth, before I shut it for you," I said in a low, deadly serious voice, crossing to the door and shutting it with a decisive snap.

The smile on Raphael's face could have lit a city block. "I guessed it, didn't I?" he asked cockily.

"No!" I answered too defensively.

"Liar."

And so, the stare-down began. As boys, we could play this game for hours, but I wasn't in the mood today—not to mention, I had been busy before he'd walked in! It would just be easier and quicker to give him enough information so he'd go away. Maybe then, I could get my work done and get to my upcoming meeting.

"Fine," I gritted out. "I _think_ she's pregnant. She hasn't told me yet. It's just a hunch." I leaned in, well into my brother's personal space, and promised him, "If you say anything to her about me suspecting, or for fuck's sake, knowing, I swear Raphael, you won't be able to run fast or far enough to escape the beating I'll give you. Got it?"

"Shit, bro, get a grip!"

"Raphael," I barked, quickly losing my usually never-ending patience. _Damn, he drove me crazy sometimes!_

"Okay, all right. Calm. Down."

"Is there a reason you're in my office, other than pissing me off?"

"Yes, but pissing you off was a nice bonus. That always makes my day." He had the audacity to smile at me. _The bastard!_

I barely stopped myself from growling out in frustration. I could feel my hands itching to hit something—Raphael's face, for starters. He must not have liked the look, which I didn't keep hidden, as I considered how satisfying it would feel to reach out and wipe his smile away with one well-placed blow.

"We just had a call from the Sanchez's estate again, requesting your presence."

"Dios, when is that woman going to get it through her head, I'm married!" _What a fucking great day this was turning out to be!_

Raphael laughed. "So is she, but that isn't stopping her from wanting in your pants."

The thought repulsed me. "Well, I'm not going out there. I've got a shitload of work to do before we leave this weekend. Send somebody else. What's the worst thing that can happen? They pull their account from us?"

"It is a sizeable account," Raphael reasoned.

"Besides, I don't think her husband will allow it," I continued my rationalization.

"I'm not so sure about that. I think she leads him around by his dick. Anyway, I have a better idea."

"Let's hear it." I was open to just about anything. I did hate the thought of losing such a large account, though I was more than ready to do it if she didn't back off.

"I think we should send Stephanie out there."

"No way!"

"Just listen. I'll go with her. She'll charm the socks off that woman. She's good at it, you know it. Then after they're good buddies, I'll casually drop that she's your wife. I think it might take care of the problem."

I sat back and considered his suggestion. It wasn't bad idea. Definitely better than anything I'd come up with.

"Okay, but you explain everything to Stephanie first. Don't let her go in blind. I'm going to be late for a meeting downtown. Tell her to call me if she has any questions. And if Stephanie doesn't want to do it, that's fine. Send that new guy, Bartels. Maybe _Mrs._ Sanchez will become fixated on him."

Turning back to my desk, I began gathering the files I'd need for the meeting. Raphael rose from his seat and crossed to the door.

"I'm pretty sure Stephanie will want to do this. She's a little possessive, and won't like to hear some woman's trying to get in your pants."

"Do _not _put it like that!" I warned.

Raphael flashed a smile, before closing the door. I checked my watched and wished I had time to go talk to Stephanie about this, but I was already on the verge of being late. I hated to be late.

**SPOV**

Nickelback blasted through my earbuds. I enjoyed rockin' out while reviewing some invoices for supplies. I was engrossed in the task, completely unaware of my surroundings. _Hey, I was in a secure RangeMan building, after all!_

That's why Raphael scared ten years off my life, when he plucked one of the buds from my ears and said, "Feel like a field trip?"

"Jesus! Rafe!" I yelled, and then yanked the other earbud out and placed a hand over my heart to make sure it was still in my chest. Yep, still there, and beating out a fast tempo.

"Did I startle you?" he asked casually, leaning a hip against my desk.

I rolled my eyes. "What do you think, Captain Obvious?"

His laughter boomed off the walls of my office. He reached out and ruffled my hair before I could stop him.

"Hey! Hands off the hair!" I said, batting his offending hand away. "You're here, why? I'm sort of busy."

"Well, I guess if you're too busy, I'll just have Carlos go talk to this woman that has the hots for him." Raphael stood up straight and started walking for the door.

"Stop!"

He turned back, smile firmly in place. "That didn't take long."

"Spill. What are you talking about? What woman?"

"There's this client that has been calling regularly to report disturbances on her property that we provide security for. She always requests that Carlos come out personally to inspect the system. When he gets out there, it's usually something minor that we suspect she purposely tampers with. Then she lays it on thick with Carlos. You know, tries to touch him, rubs against him when she walks passed, leans over him when he's..."

"I get the picture."

"I thought you might. He's dodged her roaming hands and advances. He's got quick reflexes and has had plenty of practice, since he has to spend regular time with your grandma." Raphael shuddered just saying her name.

The trip to Atlantic City, where he and Santos had been her bodyguards, had scarred Raphael permanently. Carlos and I still laughed about it.

After giving him the universal sign to hurry him along, he continued, basically laying out a plan for me to befriend this woman. After she liked me, I'd politely inform her that Carlos was _my_ husband and that I didn't share!

It seemed simple enough, and actually, it worked like a charm.

Gloria Sanchez had been surprised to find out that Carlos' wife worked so closely with him and kept such close tabs.

_You__ bet your Valentino covered ass I __do; especially__ when I find out about women like you!_ Of course, I kept that little thought to myself and plastered on a warm smile, assuring her that RangeMan kept track of _all_ employees, and more importantly, the assets of our clients.

"Somehow, I don't think Carlos will be getting any more calls to come out here," Raphael said as we pulled through the big black iron gates of the estate.

Smiling, I nodded my head in agreement. I'd fixed Gloria, and good!

"I think we should celebrate. How about Mc Donald's? I won't tell Carlos."

"Really? It's been forever since I've had their fries."

Actually, since we'd moved to Miami and I'd started eating healthier, I didn't miss the junk food laden diet of Trenton. _How weird is that?_

"Yeah, let's go! It'll be fun," I told Raphael, and he quickly whipped the Spider into a parking lot. "Aren't we going to use the drive-thru?"

Raphael's face registered complete shock. "You want my _baby_ to smell like grease and burgers? And eating in the car is completely out of the question! We'll go inside. My treat."

"Woohoo, look at the big spender!"

"Right. Do I know how to treat a woman or what?" Raphael asked as he swept the door open dramatically in front of me.

I rolled my eyes. "Good thing you have those Manoso good looks, pal."

We each had a large combo, with burger, fries, and a soda. It tasted so good, right up until about the last two bites, and then it felt like lead lying at the bottom of my stomach. I pushed the remainder of the meal away.

"I'm done."

"Me, too," Raphael said, as he popped the last fry into his mouth.

We were back in the car, heading for the office, stuck in a traffic jam, when the meal I'd just consumed started to talk back. My stomach tightened and rolled. This wasn't good. I knew the feeling all too well. I laid my head back against the rest and took deep breaths through my nose, willing the sick feeling away.

"What's wrong?" Raphael questioned. "You're looking a little green."

"I don't feel so…" I didn't get to finish the sentence, as nausea overtook me.

At my first burp, Raphael sprang into action, reaching across me and throwing open the passenger's door.

"Don't get sick in my car!" he practically shouted, pushing me sideways in an effort to get me outside.

I really, really tried not to puke in his precious baby, but I missed the mark slightly and coated the dash and part of the door as I leaned out, heaving the majority of my McDonald's lunch on the pavement of I-95.

"Fuck!" Raphael cried, jumping out of his seat and racing to the trunk.

He came back carrying towels, car cleaner, latex gloves, and a bottle of water for me. _Of course, he'd have everything he needed in case of an emergency! _"Here," he said briskly, shoving the water in my hand.

Raphael quickly cleaned up the mess I'd made in the car without complaint. By the time he was done, traffic had moved about four car links. He revved the engine slightly and moved us forward.

I felt terrible and embarrassed all at the same time, and it reminded me of when I'd first started bounty hunting. The emotions I was feeling now were commonplace, everyday occurrences back then. It seemed like a million years ago.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely.

"You do have a thing about my cars, don't you?"

"Not just yours."

That got a laugh out of Raphael. "Yeah, I've heard."

I shot him an evil glare and defended myself. "It's been a long time since anything happened."

"Three years, two months, and eighteen days," Raphael stated, while I gaped at him. "And it was my Spider!"

"Geez, Rafe. Obsess much?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I _loved_ that car."

"Well, I'm sorry. About that car, and this one, though it didn't suffer any major damage."

He muttered, "We aren't home yet."

Ignoring him, I continued, "I don't know why I got sick. I hope I'm not coming down with the flu."

"Oh, I don't think it's the flu. Could it be that my nephew doesn't like McDonalds any more than his daddy does and was just letting you know?"

All the oxygen left the car at his statement, and I couldn't breathe. Mentally, I reviewed the calendar in my head. _When__ was my last period?_ It was just a few days before we left for our anniversary trip. That means…Oh. My. God! I _could_ be pregnant!

My eyes darted back to Raphael. Dammit, just my luck, I was with the wrong Manoso male when I made this discovery. "_Deny, Stephanie, deny!" _my subconscious shouted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said confidently, brushing a piece of non-existent lint from by skirt. "It's the flu or too much grease. My body's not used to fried foods anymore. It's nothing to worry about. So don't say anything to Carlos about this."

Raphael cocked an eyebrow at me and said nothing.

"I mean it, Raphael. If I find out you told him, I'll make sure you never get the chance to father a child," I threatened, looking down at his lap to get my point across.

He moved his hands across his lap in a defensive gesture. "Damn, Stephanie, you don't have to get mean. What kind of heartless bastard do you take me for?"

"I don't; that's why we'll just keep this between ourselves. I'm sure it was the food. I feel completely better now that it's out of my system."

"Whatever," Raphael mumbled, and then zipped through a break in the traffic.

The rest of the drive was silent, which was fine with me. Raphael practiced the annoying RangeMan zone, and I thought about when I could take a pregnancy test without Carlos finding out.

We'd had a false alarm a couple of years back. I'd seen the flash of disappointment on his face when we'd leaned over the pee stick to find a negative reading. I wanted to spare him that again. This time, I'd have positive confirmation before telling him our good news!

**TBC**

Author's notes: I hope this chapter kept you entertained! As you can see, Ranger was the winner of one of the earlier plot-player questions on who would figure out they're pregnant first, Raphael second, and Stephanie brought up the end! This is fiction, so I thought I'd have some fun with it. Hope you did, too!

Please leave a review, I don't think the plot-player question for this week will be as scandalous as last week, but don't let that keep you from leaving a review! Hee, hee. 'Cause I love them! I'm a review ho!

See ya next Wednesday! ~Angie


	7. Confirmations

**Chapter 7-Confirmations**

Disclaimer: Not mine. They all belong to JE. I only spend a lot of time dreaming about her characters. Okay, so it's only Ranger, and just the thought of him makes me feel frisky!

Author's notes: First off, I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who mention the weather or other related items from your area in review or PMs to me. It's neat to hear about all the different things! We are a diversified group, aren't we? But, we all have Ranger in common...*whole body shiver*...so we're like family!

Now, on to last week's plot-player question. We had a small showing, but your answers really made me think. I might have to use more pet names in my story (quit rolling your eyes, Isabella!) as some of you came up some good ones that I hadn't thought about for other characters.

So, this was a two-part question and I'd like to give a special shout out first to those of you who guessed the correct character for the pet name. Good job! : rangersluvin, fairytaleprincess3, ty93, LilethFaire (geez, she guessed a name for everyone...including one character I haven't even introduced yet. LOL!), rangergirl1234, Barb4psu, Cindy Kay & Leia B

Alright, the rest of you did great, too! In some ways, your guesses were even more insightful, because you brought up someone who I hadn't considered. Thanks for that!: Milenab, time4tea (wow, nice response from you, Babe!), Dikent (German, hee, hee!), EEG (you didn't guess 'Bunny'? LOL), FairTaxGirl, samsararhi and foreverbabe.

Thanks so much to all of you! My plot-players and reviewers are the greatest! Ranger says, "Thanks, babes!"

To the real-life Isabella, thanks for everything, especially helping me with last week's player question. She hates pet names...well, other than 'Babe' or maybe 'Darlin' (with a Roarke Irish accent), but she's being a good sport about it. Long distance xoxos to you, Kitten! :)

Cara...let the plotting for our next adventure begin! LOL. Love ya!

My dear Beta, Jenny (JenRar), thanks for all you do for me and this story.

**SPOV**

_Dammit, dammit, dammit! _I mentally cursed my current situation as I packed one last pair of FMPs into the suitcase. What brought on this rant? My husband had been _too _attentive since we'd left RangeMan last night.

Okay, that sounded all wrong. I mean, was I truly complaining about being on the receiving end of his undivided attention? How many orgasms had I had in the last twelve hours?_ Whew! _I'd lost count. Memories flashed before my eyes and sent me into a whole body shiver.

Getting back to why I was frustrated, I knew I needed was a good half hour alone to take the pregnancy test and confirm we were pregnant. I'd thought for sure I'd get time this morning when he went on his run, but oh no, the one morning I actually _wanted_ to get up at the crack of dawn with him and see him off for his daily routine, he says he's taking the day off. _Argh!_

_**Two __Hours Earlier_**

"_Babe," he said, "Santos has promised an exhausting day of physical activity when we arrive in Nevada. Then something about private massages in Bobby's suite by scantily dressed women."_

_At my disgusted glare, he quickly added, "Which I'll be foregoing. You know your hands are the only ones I want on my body."_

_Who__ was I to deny my husband anything? I ran my hand down to wrap around the pulsing hardness of him pressed between us._

_One sexy eyebrow lifted in intrigue. "You're playing with fire," he cautioned._

"_I know," I returned, grinding myself against him. "I like it hot," I __murmured, before sliding my__ tongue around his nipple._

_Carlos cupped my breast and nipped playfully at my lip. "We don't have a lot of time, Babe."_

"_I can be quick, if you can," I __whispered, sucking his__ earlobe into my mouth._

_Coating the tip of his cock with my juices, I guided him down to where I desperately wanted him. Carlos needed no further encouragement. He eased back __slightly, and then__ slammed forward, burying himself within me in one powerful stroke._

"_Oh God!" I__ yelled out as he sat a fast pace, driving me rapidly over the edge. _

_Carlos was quicker than me in nearly everything other __thing, except__ his orgasms. The man had an unbelievable stamina._

**_E__nd Flashback__**_

I wasn't complaining, really! But now we were in danger of running late to meet the plane with the guys from Trenton.

He hurried out of the bathroom after his shower and crossed naked—_yum!—_to the closet. While he was pulling on his cargos, he asked, "Do we have everything?"

"Yeah. We're good to go. I just zipped the suitcase."

When I started to lift it from the bed, Carlos rushed over. "Let me get that. It might be too heavy for you."

"Okay," I said, not completely surprised by his behavior. He was pretty chivalrous for the most part, and rarely let me haul stuff around. But still, it was a bit odd. _Does__ he suspect __I'm__ pregnant?_ _No, Stephanie, quit thinking about it in front of __him. You__ know how he reads your mind sometimes!_

Shrugging my shoulders, I went back to the bathroom to finish my makeup. A couple of minutes later, Carlos came to the door to ask me if I was ready to go, just as I applied the last coat of mascara. I nodded, and hand in hand, we walked downstairs.

During the drive to the airfield, we reviewed our separate itineraries.

"What time is Isabella coming by to pick you up?" Carlos asked.

"I'm supposed to call after you guys leave."

"Our first stop is the Grand Canyon. I think we're repelling. The guys are going to love that!"

I laughed. "So will you."

"Yeah," he agreed, gracing me with a mischievous smile. "Next to skydiving, it's the greatest thrill. Outside of the bedroom, anyway."

Rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I replied, "You are insatiable!"

"Look who's talking," he commented.

We shared a smoldering look, and then laughed at each other. "We're evenly matched, I'd say."

"That we are, Babe, and I couldn't be happier about it."

As we pulled into the garage at the airfield, I reminded Carlos, "Not a word about Isabella, all right?"

Carlos killed the engine and rested his head back for a moment on the seat. "You know I think it's wrong to keep this from Raphael. I hate lying to him."

"It's what Isabella wants, and it's more omission of the truth, than out right lying." At his skeptical look, I questioned, "Has he asked you directly if you know where Isabella is?"

"Stephanie, that's not the point. If our roles were reversed and he'd kept your location from me…well, deadly rage would be an adequate description of my anger."

I heaved out a deep breath. We'd had this conversation more than once. Actually, I'd shared similar conversations with Isabella, and they always ended the same, with her begging me to keep her location a secret.

"I'll try to talk to her again about it. I promise."

Carlos picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Thanks, Babe."

With a slight tug, he pulled me towards him, and just as our lips touched together, my door was opened.

Lester's voice boomed out, "Shit! Don't you two _ever_ get enough of one another? Think you can pry ourselves apart so we can get going? We got things to do, beautiful women to see!"

Pushing against Lester's chest so I could step out of the car, I shot the death glare at him. "Beautiful women to see?" I teasingly fumed. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Lester crushed me in an embrace, before stepping back to look at me. "Beautiful, you hold the title, you know that. But damn, Ranger won't share, so we have to go out and find suitable substitutes."

"What a line of crap!" I muttered.

"I don't think so," Carlos whispered into my ear, coming up behind me to wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me completely out of Lester's grasp. "And he's right, I'll never share." Carlos made the last statement loud enough for Lester to hear.

Lester held out his hand for Carlos to shake. They did one of those complicated shakes, and then Lester slapped Carlos on the back. "I understand. If she was mine, I wouldn't share, either."

Luckily, Tank saved me from the sea of testosterone that I was currently drowning in. I was lifted up off the ground into his large, strong arms.

"It's good to see you, Bomber. Susan and the girls send their hellos."

"Oh, Tank, it's good to see you, too," I said, hugging him tightly before he placed me back on my feet. "I miss all of you so much, even after all this time. So your family's doing well?"

We walked arm in arm towards the plane, and Tank shared a few items about his little family, including a recent picture of the girls. They were growing so quickly!

"And Susan's enjoying private practice?" I asked as we settled into the lounge and buckled our seatbelts.

Tank nodded. "It's a lot easier than being on call at the hospital; neither of us miss those crazy hours. How are things here in Miami? Julie?"

We laughed as I told him about the latest boyfriend of Julie's and how _well_ Carlos was handling that.

"Damn, at least I've got a few years before I have to deal with that shit!" Tank shook his head in disgust.

_God__ help the poor boy who found himself on Tank's doorstep! He might be even worse than Carlos._

Carlos took the seat next to me on the couch, and the guys teased us about not being able to be apart for the weekend, but Carlos silenced them with a look that brooked no further comment. I patted my husband's leg in a comforting gesture, before volunteering to the guys that I was meeting up with an old friend in Vegas, and we planned on spending the weekend together.

Luckily, Raphael was piloting this leg of the trip and didn't hear my explanation again. We'd already given him the same story earlier in the week. Carlos was right; it was difficult to keep Isabella's location from him.

The flight passed quickly as we all took the time to catch up. I talked a lot with Bobby, although our conversation had been interrupted several times, which made me smile. His fiancée, Cara, a school teacher from North Carolina, had called twice while we were trying to visit.

Bobby told me Cara was nervous about what her friends had planned for her bachelorette party and her relocation to Trenton. Apparently, they'd moved most of her stuff already a couple weeks ago, and this was her last trip home before the wedding.

They hadn't found a house they liked, so Carlos had offered an expanded apartment at RangeMan. Everyone seemed happy with that arrangement.

When the door of the plane opened in Nevada, we were all greeted by the stifling, dry, desert heat. Wow, was I glad I wasn't going repelling at the Grand Canyon, for more than one reason.

I kissed Carlos good-bye on the tarmac as he and the guys were boarding helicopters to fly to the Grand Canyon. After they lifted off, I settled back in the air condition comfort of the limousine on my way to The Palms, and called Isabella from my cell.

She answered on the first ring. "You're here?"

"Yep. I'm on my way the hotel. The guys have already left in helicopters from the airport. God, I don't envy them in this heat."

"It has been unusually hot already this year," Isabella commented. "If it's all right, I'll leave now to come get you. We have lunch reservations at Bartolotta for noon."

"Oooh, I love you! You know that's my favorite restaurant out here!"

"Yeah, I do. Okay then, I'll see you in about forty-five minutes."

"Isabella, wait, I need a favor."

"Of course," she agreed without hesitation. "What do you need?"

"Umm, this is a big one…can you pick me up a pregnancy test at a pharmacy?" I didn't want to risk stopping myself and having the driver tell Carlos, and I sure didn't want to take a chance that it would be discovered in our suitcase, so I hadn't brought one with me.

There was a beat of silence, before I had to wretch the phone from my ear to avoid being deafened by her scream.

"Oh. My. God! Stephanie! Do you think you are?"

"Maybe, but I want to make sure before I say anything to Carlos."

"Right, I remember the last time you thought you might be. Now I'm definitely hurrying. I'll see ya soon!"

Ahh, no good-bye; you think I'd be used to this by now. Rolling my eyes, I placed my phone back into my purse and rested my head back for a moment. There were nervous butterflies in my stomach. Now that I'd spoken the words aloud, it was beginning to seem more real.

The driver pulled to a stop in front of The Palms and helped me out. The check-in took minimal time, and before I knew it, I was alone, waiting for Isabella in our room. Deciding to keep busy, I unpacked our bag to pass the time. I was storing the empty suitcase in the closet, when I heard an urgent knocking at the door.

I peeked through the security peep, to find Isabella bouncing around in impatience on the other side. Making quick work of the locks, I threw the door open and braced myself, as Isabella launched herself into my arms.

We shared a long embrace. "I can't believe you're really here. It seems like forever since I last saw you!"

"Iz, it's only been a couple months," I reasoned.

"Right. Forever!" Isabella dropped her purse on the couch, rooted around in it for a minute, found the pregnancy test, and grabbed my hand to lead me to the bathroom. "Tell me you have to go so we don't have to wait!"

I gave a nervous laugh; actually, I did need to use the bathroom. No need putting this off, I _was_ anxious for the answer. I nodded my head to Isabella. She tore open the box, handed me the pee stick, and began reading the directions aloud.

I'd done this once before with Carlos, so I knew the routine. I cleared my throat to get Isabella's attention, and when she looked up at me, I shooed her out of the room. She left after I promised to call her back in when I was done.

After a deep breath to relax, I took the test. While I was washing my hands, I called to Isabella.

She looked intently at her watch when she entered the bathroom. We stood staring down at the stick on the counter. I grabbed her hand and held on tight. My world shifted two minutes later, when the 'positive' sign appeared in the little window!

"Oh, Stephanie, you're pregnant! Congratulations!" Isabella hugged me tightly, and we jumped up and down for several minutes in the middle of the bathroom like a pair of lunatics.

"I can't believe it," I said breathlessly, looking back down at the test. "I mean, I told him it would only take one time."

Isabella laughed. "Oh, please, like you've only had sex once with Carlos! There's no way I believe that line."

A giggle escaped as I looked at the expression on her face. "Okay, maybe it was twice."

The cough she barked out sounded unmistakably like, "Bullshit!" but I might have imagined that. Did your hearing go when you were pregnant?

_I__ was pregnant! _I broke out in another happy dance.

"Let's go celebrate! I'm thinking their chocolate almond cake for dessert!" Isabella said, with a big smile on her face.

"Yum, the one with gelato and chocolate sauce? Yeah, I'm good with that," I agreed.

I gathered up all the stuff from the pregnancy test and handed it to Isabella. "Here, I can't have Carlos finding any of this. Take it with you."

Isabella dropped everything into her purse, and we headed out to lunch.

We were finishing the last bite of the rich as sin dessert, when Isabella vocalized something that had already been rolling around in my head.

"When are you going to tell Carlos?"

"I want it to be special...memorable, ya know?"

"Yeah, that's understandable. It is your first child together."

_Our first child_. An image of a baby with Carlos' dark chocolate eyes and mocha-colored skin flashed across my mind. I felt myself welling up.

Isabella reached across the table to squeeze my hand, offering me a tissue from her purse.

"Damn hormones," I mumbled under my breath.

She patted my hand reassuringly.

"Do you think I can keep it a secret for two weeks? For his birthday? It's an important day for us. The beginning of it all, really."

Her eyes lit with excitement. "That's perfect!" she exclaimed, and then her forehead wrinkled slightly. "Ummm, isn't it hard for you to keep things from him?"

I nodded my head. She had no idea. It was eerie sometimes how in tune he was with me. I'd have to put on an Oscar worthy performance to pull this off. _Distraction, use distraction!_ It was the strongest weapon in my arsenal.

"How are you going to do it?" Isabella questioned.

"Do what?"

"Keep it from him? Tell him? C'mon, details!"

"Keep it from him...distraction. It's my only choice. I'll just have to keep him _very_ busy and focused on _something else_," I whispered, putting enough emphasis into the words so that she'd get where I was going.

"Ohhh, I like that!" Isabella laughed. "Pretty sure he will too," she added with a wink.

"As for telling him...that's a bit more complicated, but I think it'll work into the plan I'd already been thinking about for his birthday."

"Do tell," Isabella encouraged, picking up her coffee cup and sitting back in her chair.

And I did. I shared all my ideas with her. She'd helped me work out the details for some of the other surprises I'd done for Carlos through the years and was a great sounding board.

While we didn't live as close as we once did to each other, we still talked or texted regularly. As usual, she gave me some better ideas and nixed some of the others I'd thought about.

When we'd ironed out that situation, I decided to broach the subject neither of us were comfortable with, but I'd promised Carlos.

"Iz," I began.

One quick look at my face told her exactly what subject I was going to bring up. "Steph, no, I don't want to talk about him."

"Just hear me out, please," I begged.

She inclined her head slightly and took a deep breath, steeling herself for the painful conversation.

It was my turn to grab her hand. "You realize he's here in Vegas, right?"

She closed her eyes and dropped her head. "I figured he would be."

"Maybe it's time to see him and put all of this to rest," I suggested.

"I don't know if I can. Honestly, I'm afraid once I see him, saying good-bye would be too hard."

"Who says you'd have to say good-bye again? I know he still thinks of you."

"Yeah, probably thinks about how much he hates me for what I did, the cowardly way I left."

"I'm not so sure about that."

Isabella searched my face for the answers to all her questions, which I didn't have.

"Look, you don't have to make a decision right now. We're in town until Sunday. Think about it, okay?"

She gave me a weak smile and nodded her head.

"I feel like shopping!" I said enthusiastically.

"Me, too. I know the cutest little baby store. We just _have _to go there first."

We spent the remainder of the day shopping, until we were almost literally dropping. My feet ached. All I wanted, after Isabella left me back at the hotel, was a long, hot bath and bed. I fell asleep in the large bathtub, and was startled awake by Carlos.

"Babe?" he asked softly, touching my shoulder gently.

"Hi," I murmured.

"You were sound asleep, Stephanie. That isn't the safest idea," Carlos scolded.

"I know, I guess I should have skipped the bath." I reasoned, stepping out of the tub and into the bath sheet Carlos was holding up for me.

He wrapped it around me tightly, and then pressed a kiss to my forehead, before drying my body with quick, efficient strokes.

"Isn't it sort of early for you to be back?" I questioned, looking at the clock that read ten p.m.

"I'm just here to shower off and change clothes, and then I'm leaving again for the poker game downstairs."

Carlos tossed the towel down to the floor and picked me up, carrying me effortlessly into the bedroom. I held on to his neck, even after he'd deposited on the bed.

"Won't you join me?" I purred, suddenly not feeling quite as tired as I was just a few short minutes ago.

"Babe, that's very tempting, but I'll have to take a rain check. I'll cash it in when I get back later tonight."

I gave him the pouty lip and puppy dog eyes, which elicited a laugh from him. He tucked a curl behind my ear, and then traced a finger lightly down my neck.

"Once I start loving you, I don't want to have to stop or leave the bed until morning."

"Well, when you put it like that…"

Carlos granted me the full-on smile, before kissing me with a hunger that had me looking forward to his wakeup call when he returned later.

He crossed back to the bathroom, and a few minutes later, the shower kicked on.

It was the last sound I heard until he came back to the room around two a.m. The wakeup call he provided did _not_ disappoint.

We shared a room service breakfast in bed the next morning, before we each went our separate ways. Carlos said he wasn't exactly sure what they were doing most of the day, but tonight was the strip club crawl, and he planned on being back early.

I told him Isabella and I were going to the Bellagio for massages, lunch, and sunbathing around their pool. We hadn't decided what we were doing for dinner yet, but I suspected it would be an early evening for me, as well.

Later that afternoon, Isabella and I were doing impersonations of boneless globs of goo next to the massive Bellagio pool, laying in the hot sunshine.

"God, that was wonderful!" I moaned, stretching like a cat preparing to take a long nap—which sounded like an excellent idea.

"I know. This place is the best!" Isabella agreed. "What I need now is a Mojito, and the world will be dang near perfect."

"Yum, that sounds good, but I guess I'll have to settle for a Ginger Ale."

"Oh, Steph, I'm sorry. How thoughtless of me. Of course you can't have our favorite drink. I don't have to get one, either."

"No, go right ahead, I don't mind." I motioned for the poolside waitress and placed our order.

The waitress smiled pleasantly and went to go get our drinks.

"I feel like getting completely wasted. Forget all my troubles for a little while," Isabella told me.

"Well, don't let me stop you. You're hilarious when you're drunk."

"Are you sure? It's been like two years since I really let go."

"I remember," I laughed. "You talked non-stop and did the craziest things; it was shocking, actually!"

"Okay, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Isabella said, immediately starting to backpedal.

"Of course it is. I've got your back. Drink up!"

And boy did she! I lost count of the number of Mojitos she had poolside. Then she switched it up at dinner and started drinking margaritas. I'd laughed several times at her 'let it all hang out' attitude, a complete contrast to the very self-disciplined friend I was use to.

Isabella drunk was everything I expected and more! She admitted during one of her many ramblings at dinner that she thought she might have been pregnant with Raphael's child after she left Miami. Yeah, that got my attention! But once the move and the stress settled some, she'd gotten her period. She said she'd cried for days when it finally came.

That little tidbit of information hadn't been shared the last time she'd been drunk. Well, maybe it had; I wasn't exactly at my most stellar during that walk on the wild side, and probably ended up drunker than her. There's no telling what I'd shared with her that night! It was all still a bit hazy.

Isabella was to the nearly passing out stage, when I decided it was time to take her home. She was settled into the passenger's seat of her car, snoring lightly, as I drove us back to her house. We were nearly there, when my cell phone began playing the Batman theme.

"Yo," I greeted.

"Babe."

The sexy timbre of his voice sent a bolt of electricity straight to my doodah. I began fantasizing about ways I could 'distract' him when I got back to our room. I might have gotten carried away by the possibilities, because there was a question in his voice when he spoke again.

"Babe?"

"Yeah, sorry. What's up?"

"Are you still with Isabella?"

"Yep."

"We've got a situation, and I was wondering if she could meet me down at the Vegas PD."

"Carlos, seriously, again?"

"Yes," he bit out, not bothering to mask his irritation. "I'm _not _happy about it, but I think Isabella can help."

"Well, I don't know how much help she'll be."

"Why's that?"

"She's drunk, and currently sound asleep."

"Fuck," he growled. "Do you think you can sober her up?"

"Uhh, I guess I could try coffee—lots and lots of coffee. What's going on?"

"Raphael and Santos have landed themselves downtown after an altercation at Isabella's club."

"Oh shit!" I blurted out in a very unladylike way.

"Exactly," Carlos agreed.

**TBC**

End notes: **Cue dramatic music** Hee, hee. What's going to happen at the PD? Huh? Huh?

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Please drop me a review, and I'll respond with your opportunity to play in the plot-player question. It's a fun one this week! I appreciate all your support as it keeps me motivated to work harder to entertain you! Have a great week! We'll see ya next Wednesday and we'll find out what's going to happen downtown. ~Angie


	8. Deadly Rage

Chapter 8-Deadly Rage

Disclaimer: Using JE's characters, and a few of my own, to weave a tangled tale for no monetary compensation.

Author's notes: This chapter is dedicated to my beautiful daughter, Brianna Marie, who turns six today! It seems like just yesterday that the my husband looked at her, seconds after her birth, and said, "Oh Ange, it's a girl!" We are so fortunate to have two wonderful children. Happy Birthday, Brianna!

What interesting answers I had for the plot-player question this week! Some of them actually caused my stomach to roll and several involved Stephanie with very bad breath! LOL. I think I'm going to have to use more than one of these, because some of them are too dang good not to.

I'd like to thank all of you that played along: time4tea, Ryl (yes, the States have A&W and actually I craved that too! Hee, hee), Pril C, LilethFaire, LeiaB, financebabe, EEG, concetta33, samsararhi, CindyKay, FairTaxGirl, Barb4psu, rangersluvin, Milenab, fairytaleprincess03 and forever babe .

rangergirl1234 wins the funniest response for this question! Oh my goodness, I am _so_ using your personal story. Poor Ranger! Thanks for the idea!

I'd like to thank the real life Isabella for her constant support. She helps keep me healthy, mentally and physically. Oh, and she gets credit for picking out 'her' car in this chapter. LOL! Thanks, Babe!

As always, I appreciate the work of my talented Beta, Jenny (JenRar).

Thanks to all the many friends that I've met through FanFiction, especially Cara, your support and friendship mean so much to me!

**SPOV**

I pulled Isabella's car to a stop outside of Starbuck's. I'd purchased three Mocha Lattes—two with extra espresso, and one decaf. Giving up caffeine during my pregnancy was going to be a challenge, especially first thing in the morning. Hell, it was the only thing that kept me functioning during those first few hours of the day.

_It'll all be worth __it!_ I reminded myself; I knew carrying Carlos' baby, our child, would be worth any amount of discomfort. I hope I felt that way during the delivery part. That's why we had drugs, right?

How would Carlos feel about them? Would he want us to have a completely 'natural' childbirth, without the use of the drugs? It was just one of the many things we'd have to discuss, make the decisions together. It's how we worked. I couldn't wait to tell him our happy news and hoped I'd be able to hold out until his birthday!

The car smelled of the wonderful, rich aroma of coffee. I waved one of the cups under Isabella's nose. She stirred. One eyelid opened, a bleary, brown eye peeked out at me, and a silly smile settled on her face.

"Hiya!" she slurred.

"Hey. You need to drink this coffee and sober up."

"I don't want to," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

I rolled my eyes. "Quit being a baby and drink! We've got to meet Carlos down at the police station."

"Police station?" Isabella questioned, scooting up in her seat and taking the cup from my hand.

While she drank, I rolled out of the parking lot and turned towards downtown. "Yeah, a couple of the guys ended up in a fight at your club and are being held at the police station until you get there."

_Did I tell her now that Raphael was one of the __guys, or__ not?_ I decided to wait until she was a little more sober; plus, I never missed a chance to put off unpleasantness. _Welcome to Denial Land, owned and operated by Stephanie Manoso!_

Isabella had finished the first cup of coffee, and I handed her the second one as we pulled into the police station parking lot.

"Oh, hell," Isabella groaned. "I wish I'd have just passed out for the rest of the night." She closed her eyes, and then rested her back on the headrest. "Of course, he'd have to be working!"

Confused, I put the car in parked and looked over at her. "What are talking about?"

"That's Dan's truck."

"Dan? Oh! Dan..._that_ Dan?"

Isabella laughed softly. "Which one of us is the sober one?"

"Aren't you funny?" I joked. "Sue me. I'd forgotten that he was a cop."

"Well, he is. Why don't you be a good friend and just go in there and bring the paperwork out to me? Save me the drama."

_Drama, she had no idea…_

"Iz..." I started to tell her about Raphael being inside, but she interrupted me.

"No, forget it. Let's get this over with," she said flatly, squaring her shoulders and getting out of the car. She was muttering softly to herself as we walked past Dan's red truck.

Through the many phone conversations I'd had with Isabella, I'd learned that Dan Banks was a fairly handsome man, with a quick humor and easy smile. She'd been dating him casually for the last several months. Nothing serious, Isabella had said, more than once, when I questioned her about it, and then about two weeks ago, she'd told me he'd dropped the 'L' bomb.

She'd been devastated, because she didn't feel the same way—not even close; there was no spark. She'd said they always had a good time, but her feelings leaned more towards friendship than romantic love.

Isabella had told him that she was sorry she couldn't return the sentiment and hadn't seen him since. Dan had called a couple of times, urging her to meet him and give them a chance, but Isabella remained firm in her decision.

In my opinion, she couldn't give her heart to Dan, because it was still taken by Raphael. No one had held her interest for long since him, and yet, I could never convince her that the reason for that was because she was still in love with Raphael.

When we walked into the lobby, Carlos was already there and waiting. He crossed to me and draped an arm around my waist, pulling me into his body, and then placing a tender kiss to my lips, while Isabella stepped to the desk and gave her name.

Carlos leaned down to my ear and whispered, "Did you tell her it's Raphael?"

"I didn't get a chance. I tried when we got here, but she got out of the car before I could tell her. Maybe they won't see each other?" I asked hopefully.

"It's possible," Carlos said, and for a brief moment, I considered if maybe an 'accidental' meeting would be the best thing for both of them.

The officer at the desk was explaining the situation to Isabella, telling her what had happened at the club and asking if she wanted to press charges against any or all of the people involved for the damages.

"So you're saying that two of these guys got between this abusive, drunk man and his girlfriend, to keep him from hitting her again?"

"Yes, Ms. Herandez."

Isabella turned back to us and smiled sheepishly at Carlos. "Sorry, I didn't say 'hi' when we walked in; you were busy kissing your wife."

Carlos took a few steps towards her. "It's fine. How are you, Isabella?" he asked. He placed a kiss on her cheek, and they gave each other an affectionate hug.

"I was feeling no pain a couple hours ago," she giggled. "But now I have a raging headache and just want to go home. I assume the two guys that broke up the fight were yours."

"Yes. The police hauled everyone involved down here to sort it out."

Isabella turned back towards the officer. "All right, I don't want to press charges against…" She stopped speaking and turned back to Carlos. "What are the names of your guys?"

My eyes went straight to Carlos. His expression told me he was _not_ happy about having to be the one to tell her. I felt a pang of guilt, and mouthed, "I'm sorry," before he turned back to Isabella.

"It's Lester Santos and…"

"Isabella!" a handsome uniformed man called out as he came quickly around the desk.

_Shit! I knew who this was._

I watched as Isabella's shoulders dropped slightly for just a moment, before she straightened her backbone and plastered on a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Hello, Dan," she greeted, and turned her head so that his kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips.

"You're here about the brawl down at your club, huh?"

"Yes. Is there any way you can speed this process up? I don't feel well, and I'd like to go home."

"Sure thing. Let me see what I can do," Dan agreed, before crossing back to the desk. The officer handed him the clipboard with all the paperwork. His eyes began scanning the documents. He stopped, and his sharp gaze snapped up to Carlos.

"No wonder you're here. Have you _ever_ managed to come to Vegas and not end up down here at the station?"

The change in Carlos' demeanor was instantaneous. The blank face slammed down, and the bad ass persona snapped into place. "Just do your job, Banks. We'd like to get Isabella home."

Dan looked back to Isabella with an expression of irritation. "You _know_ these people?"

"Yes, Dan, this is my best friend, Stephanie Manoso, and her husband, Carlos. Remember, I told you about them."

"You didn't tell me their last name was _Manoso_," he grumbled.

"Well, it is," Isabella huffed out. "Where do I sign to release Carlos' two men?"

Dan hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and then clicked a few places on the computer in front of him, making the printer spring to life. While he waited for the papers, he told the officer to go release the two men from the holding area.

I sucked in a breath. _How long would this take? Would they see each other?_ I anxiously shifted my weight back and forth from one foot to another in a swaying motion. Carlos grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Minutes later, the shit hit the fan!

**RPOV**

Isabella gasped when the papers were placed in front of her—no doubt from seeing Raphael's name, and then the man himself could be heard joking with the police officer about the fact that his brother must have had some connections, since he was able to get the smokin' hot owner of the club to come down personally to get him released.

Raphael's voice held a teasing tone when he replied, "Yeah, it's great to have connections. You say the owner's hot?"

"Hell, yeah," the officer replied.

They were sharing a laugh as they came around the corner and Raphael spotted her.

"Isabella?" he exclaimed, drawing to an immediate halt and causing Santos to stumble into him.

"Shit, Rafe, what the hell are you… Oh, fuck, it's Isabella."

There were several beats of absolute silence as everyone gauged the other's reactions. Isabella was visibly shaking, with tears brimming in her eyes, the classic "deer in the headlights" look canvasing her face.

Raphael's expressions went through a myriad of emotions: shock, disbelief, relief, happiness, and anger. The last one was clearly directed at me and Stephanie. Fuck, he was really pissed! Not that that was a big surprise.

Raphael was the first to move, crossing quickly to Isabella's side and grabbing her hand in a firm grip.

"Hey!" Dan yelled. "Get your hands off her, Manoso." He stepped back around the desk and up into Raphael's face.

"Make me," Raphael taunted, leaning even closer to Dan, clearly not threatened by him, nor letting go of Isabella's hand.

I lay a restraining hand on my brother's shoulder. Raphael jerked away.

"Don't," he warned, using a tone that spoke of how clearly pissed off he was at me.

The conversation I'd had with Stephanie came back to me; _deadly__ rage, _was the way I described Raphael's mood when he finally found out. And fuck if he wasn't there.

Isabella finally snapped out of the stupor she'd been in since seeing Raphael's name on the paperwork and stepped between the two men, putting a hand on each of their chests to push them apart.

She looked at Dan first. "Dan, it's okay. Raphael's upset with me, and he has every right. He won't hurt me."

Dan didn't look very reassured, but he nodded his head and reached for Isabella's hand, stopping when Raphael practically growled at him.

"Raphael," Isabella said hesitantly. "Please, don't make this any worse. We can talk in private after I sign these papers."

Raphael remained deathly quiet while the remainder of the paperwork was completed, keeping his right hand clasped in Isabella's as she signed several documents. When it was all done, she gave Dan a smile and told him they'd talk later, and then turned to Raphael.

She flinched at his expression and dropped her eyes. We all turned and walked outside. Santos went straight to the hotel limousine I'd used to get here, and the rest of us stood in a stony, tension-filled silence, until Raphael swore vehemently.

"Son of a fucking bitch! You've known all along where she's been, haven't you?

Raphael's tone held a dangerous edge to it, as he looked at both Stephanie and me. Before I could explain the whole fucked up situation to him, he stopped me with a knowing glare.

"Dammit Carlos, how could you?"

Deciding he wasn't ready to hear any of my lame excuses, I remained silent.

Raphael turned his attention to Isabella and asked her, "How did you get here?"

"Stephanie drove me here in my car," she responded, motioning her head towards the shiny, silver BMW 650i.

"Keys?" Raphael questioned, his eyes sharp and intense when he looked at Stephanie.

She reached into her purse and extracted the keys. He held his open palm out. Stephanie checked visually with Isabella for approval, before relinquishing control of them. Isabella nodded, but remained silent. Stephanie dropped the keys in Raphael's hand and looked up pleadingly at him.

"Raphael, I'm sorry…"

With the keys around one of his fingers, he held his hand up in the stop gesture. "Not a damn word!" he hissed, breaking eye contact with her to look at me. "From either of you." Then turned on his heel, and in long strides, walked towards Isabella's car, pulling her along behind him by their joined hands.

He helped Isabella into the car, shot one more angry look at us, and then went to the driver's side. The engine roared to life, and I was surprised to see that he didn't tear out of the parking lot like he was qualifying for the Daytona 500.

Stephanie blew out a breath in a long stream. "So, that went well," she said sarcastically.

"Babe, I warned you how he'd react. Actually, I thought he showed considerable restraint." _More than I probably would __have._

"I know he's pissed, but he'll get it over it, right? He won't do anything stupid, will he?"

"Pissed is not nearly a strong enough word. Yeah, he'll get over it, once they talk it out. I doubt he'll do anything stupid, but I also doubt he's done with us on this subject." _No fucking way was this was over! _I'd being paying for my part in this on the mats, and rightly so.

Stephanie groaned as I held the door open for her, because she knew as well we weren't going to get off easy with Raphael. I slid into the seat next to Stephanie; she clasped my hand and rested it in her lap.

Santos looked at each of us intently for a few minutes, before he finally spoke. "You've known all along where Isabella has been, haven't you?" he accused.

"Santos," I said in warning. Stephanie and I already felt bad enough, we didn't need Santos to pile on any more guilt.

"Unfuckingbelieveable," Santos said, undeterred by my warning to be quiet. "That sucks, and both of you know it!"

It did suck; you'd hear no arguments from me. Thankfully, Santos remained silent for the rest of the ride. When we pulled up to the hotel, we all filed out of the car and headed for the bank of elevators. I reminded Santos that we were all meeting at the hotel restaurant for breakfast at 0800, before we flew back home.

When we got into our room, Stephanie took off her shoes, and giving into a fit of temper, threw them across the bedroom. They hit the wall with a resounding thump.

"Feel better?" I asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Not really," she mumbled.

Stepping behind her, I pulled her into an embrace. She tilted her head back to rest against my shoulder.

"I feel terrible about this whole mess," she said quietly.

"I know you do. We were stuck between two people we care for, that's not an easy situation, but I know something that can help us forget about it for a while," I whispered into her ear, sucking the lobe gently between my teeth.

Stephanie purred her agreement. "Sounds good to me." She turned in the circle of my arms and placed a soft kiss to my lips.

I threaded my fingers into her hair, using the hold I had to tilt her mouth up to deepen the kiss. Our tongues slid together. I'd never grow tired of the taste and feel of my wife. Her body pressed tightly against me as she seemed to try and meld into my body. I didn't stop myself from grinding my growing erection between us, which elicited groans from us both.

We went to work freeing the other from their clothes. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt, kissing the skin below each button as she pulled it open, while I slid the zipper of her dress down. Running my hands inside the loosened material, I was surprised to find a bare breast.

"Babe, you're not wearing a bra," I breathed against the skin of her neck as I pushed the strap of the dress off her shoulder.

"Hmm, I know; the one I bought with me didn't work with this dress so I went without. Do you mind?" she teased.

"Not at all." I saw it as a way to get quicker to one of the parts of her I wanted most. Without further delay, I settled my mouth over her nipple, rolling it between my teeth, until it pebbled.

Stephanie moaned and slid my shirt off my shoulders. I held up each of my wrists to allow her to unbutton the cuffs of the shirt. Within seconds, it began the pile of clothes that would soon be on the floor. Her dress followed closely behind, and then the remainder of my clothes, leaving me naked and my beautiful wife standing in a tiny lace thong that left nothing to the imagination.

_Not that I needed any help picturing my wife naked._ It was a frequent reel that played through my mind several times a day.

Our eyes met. Stephanie's bright eyes held a smoky quality to them that spoke of her arousal. She began backing towards the bed, and I followed closely, not touching, but staying close enough that I could still feel the heat coming off her body. When her knees hit the edge of the bed, she freefell onto it, and I immediately covered her with my body.

"You're over dressed," I stated, and began to kiss my way down to the patch of lace that covered the most delicious part of her.

I didn't feel like wasting the time removing the panties, so I simply tore them off her, and with one long stroke, slid my tongue from her clit all the way down to her wet opening.

She bucked against my mouth, and I rewarded her by pushing my tongue inside. Using my fingers, I opened her up, allowing better access to her delicate flesh. I bit softly at her clit, while my fingers stroked her into her first orgasm. She went over the edge with a shouted, "Carlos! Oh, God!"

Stephanie pulled at my hair in an effort to lift me from her sensitive bundle of nerves, making me look up at her. "I want to feel you inside me. Now, please!"

I planned on enjoying her more with my mouth, but couldn't deny the pleading in her eyes, nor the near painful hardness of my erection. I sat back on my heels, wrapped my arms around Stephanie's hips, and pulled her to me.

She reached above her to grab hold of the headboard, as I draped her legs over my shoulders. I took hold of my cock, rubbed it several times up and down her wetness, and then centered myself and plunged into her in one powerful stroke.

Stephanie squealed out and flew over the edge again. I closed my eyes and savored the feeling of her clenching around me. The urge to pound into her became too much, so I gave myself over to the need and drove us both to our completion with deep, fast thrusts.

Gently, I lowered her shaking legs back to the bed, slid out of her warmth, and rolled us both to our side. With her body spooned in front of mine, I kissed the top of her head. Whispered words of love passed between us, before we fell into an exhausted sleep.

We were still tangled in each other's arms the next morning when the alarm clock sounded its wake-up call. Stephanie cursed under her breath, gave my body a squeeze, and then promptly rolled over and continued sleeping.

I smiled as I looked down at my lovely wife, who still, after all this time of being married to a morning person, hated to greet the day too early. Before I went to take my shower, I decided to spend a few moments just looking at Stephanie and add weight to my growing suspicions that we were pregnant.

Last night, it was dark in our bedroom, so I couldn't tell for sure, but her breasts felt fuller to me. Now, looking at them with the morning light peeking through the partially opened curtain, I could tell they _did_ look just a touch bigger.

I gently cupped her right breast in my hand and traced the darkness of her nipple with my thumb; she moaned softly, her body always quick to respond to my touch. I placed a tender kiss to the pebbling bud and slid my hand slowly down to rest on her belly.

My hand stilled directly above the place where our child would grow. I felt this feeling of complete rightness and calm settle over me. _We were going to be parents together._ I was humbled and exhilarated, all at once. After sending a silent prayer to the heavens to keep our child and my wife safe, I reluctantly left the bed to go take my shower.

Stephanie stumbled into the bathroom, just as I was tucking my shirt into my pants.

"Damn," she mumbled, "I'm too late."

"Sorry, Babe, you didn't seem like you were ready to get up, so I let you sleep."

"Thanks. I mean, I hate that I missed seeing you naked and all, but I've really been tired this weekend."

_More evidence to add to my growing, nearly concrete, suspicion._

Closing the distance between us, I gently brought my lips to hers. Stephanie wrapped her arms around my waist as the kiss deepened.

"Good morning," she purred, when we paused to take a breath.

"Morning." I smiled back at her and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I'll wait for you in the living room."

After one more kiss, I left her to shower alone. We didn't have time to indulge ourselves, because in thirty minutes, we needed to be downstairs for breakfast.

Stephanie came racing out of the bathroom twenty-five minutes later, and we quickly made our way downstairs. Everyone was seated at a large table when we arrived, most of them already nursing their first cup of coffee.

Well, everyone except my brother.

Stephanie made the realization at the same time I did and voiced the question before me. "Anybody heard from Raphael?"

A couple of the guys mumbled, "No."

Stephanie's eyes met mine, a look of sadness etching her face. I pulled a chair out for her and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before sitting down to her left. She pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Isabella. While she waited for a return text, Stephanie impatiently tapped her fingers on the table.

The phone beeped an incoming alert a few minutes later. Stephanie glanced at the display, and then whipped her whole body around to look over her shoulder. I turned to see what had caused her reaction and saw Isabella and Raphael standing at the entrance of the restaurant.

They looked like they hadn't slept yet. Raphael's tired eyes met mine, and I was surprised to see a smile hint at the corner of his mouth.

_What__ the fuck was that about?_

Stephanie stood so quickly that her chair tipped back and would have fallen to the floor if I hadn't caught it. Her voice was anxious as she asked, "Isabella, is everything all right?"

Isabella's face creased into a big smile. "Yeah, I think so," she replied, holding up her left hand.

Stephanie gasped when she saw the wedding band on Isabella's finger. My eyes tracked quickly to Raphael's left hand, and sure as shit, he was wearing one, too!

"Oh my God! You got married?" Stephanie shouted.

**TBC**

Author's notes: Who saw this coming? I'm going to go pull Ranger behind a planted palm in corner. He's a little shocked and might need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Hey, I'm a professional! I know what I'm doing. And trust me, 'doing' Ranger would be no hardship! LOL!

Please be kind while I'm busy with Ranger and leave a review! Thanks! See ya next week! ~Angie


	9. Plans, Plans and More Plans!

**Chapter 9-Plans, Plans and more Plans!**

Disclaimer: They're not mine. If they were, I'd resolve the love triangle, stat!

Author's notes: The plot-players' ship was leaning heavy to one side this week. It was nearly unanimous…nearly. What fun reading all your 'defenses' for your reasons were! Thanks for that! Oh, and I love hearing about what's going on in your little sections of the world. It's so neat to catch up with all of you! I have the greatest people following this story!

Thanks to all the plot-players that responded to this week's question: samsararhi, concetta33, Pril C, Barb4psu, Milenab, fairytaleprincess03, CindyKay, LeiaB, shoegirl01, writersblock24, ty93, EEG, financebabe, janetfan150, FairTaxGirl, suedesigns101, LilethFaire, Ryl, Lu2read, forever babe and time4tea.

My special thanks to the real-life 'Mrs. Isabella Manoso'. She's awesome! From a sounding board to a health/fitness advisor, though most importantly, a dear friend. Thanks, Babe!

Cara, do I need to send your fictional future husband, Bobby, over to take care of you? Hope you feel better soon, Babe! Xoxos!

Thanks to Jenny (JenRar) for all the time she gives, free of charge, to make this story easier to read. You're the best, Babe!

Believe it or not, Lester's toast in this chapter was actually given by a Best Man in real life. My source? A Catholic priest. To say he was shocked would be an understatement! He had to give the prayer right after that 'insightful' little piece of information. LOL.

**SPOV**

"This is a joke, right?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from every word as I looked at Isabella. "Raphael's way of payback for not telling him where you were?" I could not believe this was legit.

Raphael's eyes darkened, and he stepped up close to me. "This isn't payback, Stephanie. You'll know payback when you see it…and trust me, it's still coming."

"Uhh, okay," I nearly whimpered, pretty sure I wouldn't like Raphael's form of payback. I decided to try and soften him a bit by adding, "I _am_ sorry for not telling you, Raphael."

"Sure you are, since you got caught. I'm still mad—at more than just you." His eyes flicked to Carlos. "But right now, I don't want to think about it, because technically, it's still my wedding day."

"Isabella? Really?" I asked, turning back to her.

"Yes. Really. Good morning, sister-in-law!" Isabella responded, throwing her arms around me.

"Congratulations, Isabella," I whispered into her ear, stunned that they'd actually gotten married! "You've got a _lot_ of explaining to do, sister."

Carlos shook Raphael's hand and exchanged an affectionate hug. The guys all joined us in offering them congratulations.

Lester slapped his hand on Raphael's back. "Congratulations, Rafe! But shit, man, how are we going to throw you a bachelor party, when you ain't a bachelor anymore?"

"My days of partying as a single man are over, Santos," Raphael said honestly, and didn't seem unhappy about the statement. "If it makes you feel better, I'll pass you my 'little black book.' I won't be needing it anymore." Raphael gave Isabella a wink.

"I guess that's something, anyway." Lester's voice held mock dejection. "I'm one of the few single guys left now," he muttered under his breath.

"We still love you, Lester," I comforted, while patting his forearm.

"It'll be a tough job, consoling all those poor, beautiful single ladies when they find out Rafe's off the market, but I think I'm up for the job," Lester said confidently, wearing a sexy smile.

I rolled my eyes, and then extended my arms to my brother-in-law.

"Congratulations, Rafe. I'm happy for you and Isabella," I told him as we held each other for a minute.

"Thanks, sis. We appreciate that." Raphael released me and slid his arm around Isabella's waist.

"Stephanie, I'm sorry I didn't have you there to stand up with me. It was sort of a spur of the moment type of decision to get married," Isabella said sheepishly.

"Yeah, no shit," I murmured. _In fact, maybe I needed to make sure __she'd been sober__ when she did this._ "Umm, I need to go to the restroom. Why don't you come with me?" I urged, grabbing her hand to pull her off to the ladies room.

Raphael stopped us. "You're not taking her away from me to grill her about what happened last night or early this morning. We're happy with our choice and have no regrets. Right, Kitten?" Raphael asked Isabella.

"Kitten? I don't think so, Rafe," Isabella said with distain.

"Wild Cat?" Raphael growled, wriggling his eyebrows.

Isabella shook her head. "No way!"

"Oh, I think there's a way. Talk to me after I get you naked." Raphael's whisper was loud enough for me to hear.

I cleared my throat loudly in effort to get Isabella's attention again. When her eyes caught mine, I looked pointedly at her, willing her to answer me honestly about their decision to get married.

"We're happy, Steph." She must have received that annoying Manoso ESP trick with her wedding ring, because she laughed softly, before saying, "And yes, Mom, I was completely sober when I took my vows. We've only been married about three hours, and I've had a _lot_ of coffee since I last saw you."

"Well, we should celebrate then. We were just getting ready to have breakfast," I told them.

"Actually, we already had a private breakfast at the hotel where we got married. We came back here to tell you our news and get Raphael's stuff out of his room. We're staying in the Honeymoon Suite at the Bellagio until Tuesday."

Carlos looked at Raphael and teased, "I guess you're not going to be at work this week?"

"Nope," Raphael responded, wearing a shit-eating grin. "Won't be in next week, either. I plan to whisk my new wife away to Fiji on Tuesday afternoon."

"Fiji?" Isabella squealed, and then took a deep breath and calmly told him, "Rafe, we don't have to do that."

"Yes, we do, Isabella. We've got a lot of time to make up for, and I've spent the last three years covering their asses,"—Raphael motioned his head towards us—"while they trotted all over the world. They owe me." Raphael raised his eyebrow, daring either of us to complain.

That wasn't going to happen. First off, it was true, and secondly, Carlos was too smart to give Raphael the satisfaction, by taunting us for all our travels during our marriage. No, my husband was all about getting even, and I wasn't disappointed when he finally replied to Raphael.

"Take as much time as you'd like, Raphael," Carlos spoke causally, but the glint in his eye spoke of mischief. "There's just one thing… When do you plan on telling Mama your big news? Oh, and the fact that she wasn't there to see her eldest son get married."

I swear, those men loved to pull each other's chain. It was a game that each of them enjoyed too much. Raphael's face fell at Carlos' well placed 'jab' in their verbal sparring match.

"Mama?" Raphael questioned to no one in particular. "Shit, I didn't even think about that!"

"Me, either," Isabella sighed. "My brothers are going to be pissed!"

A plan began to form in my mind, and I hoped by suggesting it, Raphael might get over some of his mad at us, or even better, forget about 'payback' all together.

"How about Carlos and I host a reception for you in Miami the weekend after you get back from Fiji? We'll get everyone together and make it a surprise. Maybe you could have a private service with a minister that everyone could witness?"

"That's a wonderful idea, Steph!" Isabella exclaimed. "What do you think?" she asked Raphael.

"Yeah, that sounds good. You won't tell anyone before then, right?" He looked between Carlos and me. "I know how well you both can keep secrets."

"Raphael, be nice," Isabella warned. "I told you last night they did that as a favor to me, not to intentionally hurt you."

"I know, Isabella, but they knew how miserable I was and how desperate I was to find you. It's nice that they kept your secret for _you_, but they still should have told _me_. Given us the chance to work this out sooner."

"Well, I don't want to argue about the past on our wedding day, okay?"

"Of course, my bride," Raphael said with a smile. "Besides, we have much better things to do," he growled, and brought his lips to hers. They became lost in the moment, seemingly unaware of the rest of us all standing there watching.

"Now you know how we feel with you two all the time," Lester teased from behind us.

Carlos whipped his head around, to give Lester the 'shut the fuck up' look, and I loudly cleared my throat again. Thankfully, they separated, but continued to stare into each other's eyes with lustful expressions. They needed to get to their room, before they did something embarrassing, like consummated their marriage in front of everyone.

"Hey, let's get Raphael checked out of this hotel so you guys can get back to the Bellagio. I'm sure you're both tired and want to be _alone_." I stressed the final word in an effort to get them to snap out of their frenzied state.

"Oh…yeah… um… right," Isabella replied hesitantly, still not breaking eye contact with Raphael.

_Time to take matters into my own hands, literally._ I grabbed Isabella's hand and began pulling her towards the elevator, knowing Raphael would follow close behind. I called over my shoulder to Carlos, and told him to go ahead and eat breakfast, while I helped them get on their way. I wedged myself between them in the elevator.

"Cockblocker," Raphael accused with a huff.

"Exactly," I said sweetly. "You two are about to spontaneously combust, and I, for one, would like you to be behind closed doors when that happens."

"She's right, Rafe. Once we get to the Bellagio, we don't have to surface until Tuesday afternoon."

"That won't be long enough," Raphael stated quietly, as the elevator doors slid open on his floor.

We quickly made our way to his room. He threw his suitcase on the bed, and he and Isabella took his clothes from the closet, while I went into the bathroom to get his toiletry items. We all tried to get through the door at the same time, and bumped together in the process. Isabella dropped her purse, and the contents scattered all over the floor.

Raphael dropped to one knee and began gathering the items, while Isabella and I laughed at our clumsiness. We were completely unprepared for Raphael's flash of temper.

"What the _fuck_ is this?" he shouted.

I felt all the color drain from my face, when I looked down to see him holding _my_ positive pregnancy test.

"Is this just one more of your little _secrets_, Isabella?" Raphael accused harshly.

Isabella gasped in surprise, but before she could respond, I lashed out at Raphael.

"No, you dumbass, it's mine!"

"Yours?" Raphael asked with relief evident in his voice, and then his eyes narrowed at me. "Does my brother know, yet?"

"No, and please don't tell him!"

"More secrets," he muttered and finished picking up the contents of Isabella's purse. He handed it to her, and had the good sense to look ashamed at his behavior. "I'm so sorry, Isabella," he said remorsefully. "I shouldn't have accused you. I just saw the test and reacted without thinking."

Isabella brushed his hair back from his face. "It's okay. We're both tired and strung out from all we've been through in the last several hours. I don't blame you for being mad; I know what it looked like, what you must have thought."

They gravitated together, and just after their lips touched, I announced, "Well, looks like we're set. Let's go!" I opened the door again and tugged on Isabella's arm to get them moving.

We were back in the elevator, when Raphael looked sternly at me. "How long do you plan on keeping your condition a secret from my brother?"

"Just 'til his birthday. I want it to be a surprise."

"That's good. I won't see him alone until after that, so I don't have to worry about not telling him. And just for the record, I hate keeping secrets, especially from my brother."

"I know, Rafe. And if it's any consolation, he hated keeping Isabella's from you. It really ate at him."

"I'm sure it did," he replied quietly, and then Raphael's entire demeanor softened, a smile curving into place. "Told you my nephew didn't like McDonald's," he teased.

I rolled my eyes. "It could just as easily be your niece, and McDonalds isn't the only thing it's come to hate."

Raphael reached out and grabbed my hand. "Stephanie, are you okay? Maybe you should just tell Carlos right away. He'll be ecstatic whenever you tell him. It doesn't have to be his birthday. That way, you can get to your doctor. Make sure everything's all right."

"I'm fine, Raphael," I assured him. "It hasn't been too severe, and I'm sure I can make it until his birthday. Well, I hope nothing gives me away."

The door to the elevator opened, and we stopped right outside the entrance to the restaurant.

"Good luck with that," Raphael said with a smirk. "My brother's pretty observant, especially where you're concerned. Plus, I'm not going to be around to cover your back."

"Thought you didn't like keeping secrets, Rafe?"

"Ya know, it's not that big of a secret, now that I think about it."

"What do you mean?" I demanded. "Does he already know? Tell me!"

Raphael shrugged his shoulders and remained quiet. I stomped my foot in frustration. Isabella calmly interceded.

"Steph, he's just teasing you. Of course Carlos doesn't know. You only found out yesterday."

"Sweetheart, they've been going at it like rabbits." Raphael stopped and shook his head. "Well, that's not a news flash—they're like that all the time—but they have been actively trying to get pregnant. My brother's not going to be that surprised," he defended his rationale arrogantly.

Isabella thumped her new husband in the stomach…hard. Raphael doubled over with a grunt, while I lost the battle not to stick my tongue out at him.

"Children," Isabella warned in a tone that sounded eerily like a school principal's scolding voice. "Play nice," she advised.

Raphael straightened and opened his arms to me. "Sorry, sis, you know I can't resist teasing you, and I am happy about my new nephew." He hesitated as I glared at him, before wisely adding, "Or niece."

Carlos joined us just as Raphael pressed a kiss to my forehead and released me. I stepped into Carlos' body when his arm draped around my waist. "Has he forgiven you already?" Carlos whispered into my ear, after witnessing Raphael's little display of affection.

"Oh, I don't think I'm off that easy," I groaned.

"Me, either," Carlos replied.

We made our way back to the restaurant. Carlos had a bottle of champagne delivered while we were gone and proposed a toast to his brother and Isabella. His toast prompted another, and then another. The guys began a competition to see who could propose the lewdest toast.

At first, I thought Lester's was going to be a sweet, almost religious toast, but I should have known better.

He rose from his seat, glass held high. "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is best from behind."

There were a few "Hell yeah's!" from the guys, while Isabella and I groaned at the butchering of one of the more beautiful biblical verses.

I took very discreet, small sips of the bubbly wine, not resulting in a full swallow by the time Raphael called a halt. The table erupted into applause and shouts of encouragement as he said he planned to put some of their suggestions into practice when he got his bride alone.

Isabella promised to email regarding the reception once they got to Fiji, as her anxious husband drug her towards the door that led out of the hotel. I was sort of nervous about planning their party, but she told me to do 'whatever,' and they'd love it. She and Raphael looked so happy, arm in arm, whispering softly to each other as they walked away. It had been a long time coming, and I truly couldn't have been happier for them!

When I finally got to eat breakfast, I reflected briefly on how drastically my life had changed. Gone was the 'fly by the seat of her pants' Jersey girl, and in her place was a happily married, tanned by the Miami sun, planner. I had plans coming out of my ears! Plans for Carlos' birthday, plans for Raphael and Isabella's reception, and the biggest plan of all…telling my husband we were pregnant!

**RPOV**

Since our return from Vegas nearly two weeks ago, Stephanie had battled several bouts of nauseousness. They were as unpredictable as she often is. Sometimes, they'd hit in the early morning, sometimes at night, but most often mid-day. She tried to 'distract' me in one way or another, but I wasn't fooled; I knew her too well.

I'd nearly broken down and told her I'd figured it out, more than once, but always stopped myself. She had a reason for wanting to wait, and I wasn't going to push her.

Stephanie was maintaining her weight, and other than the few times she was green as she battled the upset stomach, she had a healthy glow about her. Just as I had suspected, she was even more beautiful pregnant.

I slammed the hatch door of the SUV and was walking back towards the house, when Stephanie came bounding out the front door, full of energy. Obviously, the latest bout of nausea I'd witnessed earlier had passed. I headed to the passenger's side to get the door for her. She pressed a quick kiss to my lips, mumbled her thanks, and climbed into the SUV.

Her happy mood was contagious, and I felt my spirits lift. It was going to be a stressful day for me, since we were spending most of it with Julie and...Galvin, aboard _Our Someday_.

While I was thrilled to spend time with my daughter, watching her flirt with her boyfriend had become a lesson in misery. The guy just didn't give up! I was worried that my 'bad ass' persona was defective, because I hadn't managed to scare him off yet. Stephanie had been seriously pissed at me the first time they'd come to our house for dinner.

Apparently, my idea of 'nice' and my wife's differed in many ways. I thought I'd showed considerable restraint, even if I hadn't been a great conversationalist. Okay, so I'd barely spoken more than ten words to him the entire day, but he'd left without any damage to his person, and I thought that was a major testament to my self-control.

Stephanie ran her hand lightly up my arm. "I hate to say this, because I don't want to start a fight or ruin this beautiful day, but do you think you could try really, really hard to be 'nice' today."

There's that word again!

"Babe."

She rolled her eyes. "I know, it's not easy for you. Please, for Julie, for me? Maybe you could find something you both have in common."

"That's not likely," I gritted out.

"Carlos."

Blowing out a breath, I agreed. "Okay. I'll try."

When we arrived at Rachel's, everyone was sitting outside on the front porch. Galvin picked up their large beach bag, smiled pleasantly at Rachel while Julie gave her a kiss, and then with his hand resting lightly on the small of Julie's back, guided her towards us. Rachel followed behind them.

"Good morning, Stephanie, Mr. Manoso," Galvin greeted us warmly.

I nodded in acknowledgement to him and held back a grunt as Stephanie elbowed me in the ribs. She wanted me to let him call me by my given name, but that wasn't happening yet. I was still hoping the 'bad ass' persona would send him packing, and soon. I opened the back hatch for him to place their bag inside, since he wouldn't surrender the damn thing to me so I could do it myself, even after my glare.

Stephanie and Galvin exchanged pleasantries for a moment, before she gave Julie a hug and went to talk to Rachel.

Julie jumped into my arms enthusiastically. "Hi, Dad!"

It seemed both of the women in my life were in happy moods today.

"Hello, carina," I breathed into her hair, and then planted a soft kiss there.

"We're so excited to be out on the water all day. Aren't we, Galvin?" Julie asked him, wearing a big smile and trying to drag him into our conversation.

"Yeah, Jules. Thank you, Mr. Manoso, for inviting me."

Not willing to let him think I was responsible for this, I said, "Julie and Stephanie planned this outing." And then, in the spirit of being 'nice,' I added, "We always enjoy taking the yacht out. Do you get out on the water much?"

"Yes, actually, I do. My best friend's dad has a boat, and I get to go with them often."

Stephanie and Rachel came to join us, and everyone fell into an easy conversation. Julie became impatient with the small talk and asked if we were ready to get going. Saying good-bye to Rachel, we piled back into the SUV and headed for the marina.

Julie and Stephanie reclined on the upper deck couch, near the helm, while Galvin and I worked together to get the yacht out of its slip. Grudgingly, I had to admit that Galvin did a good job and listened intently to instructions from both me and the dock crew. Those were qualities I respected.

We'd cruised out about thirty miles from Miami, when I switched the engines to idle and dropped the anchor. The plan was to take the jet skis out for an hour or so, and then have lunch.

I really didn't think it was a good idea for Stephanie to be riding one in her condition, and was trying to find a diplomatic way to tell her so without letting on I knew she was pregnant. I had to fight back a knowing look when she informed us she was too tired to go out and just wanted to lie in the sun and relax for a while.

At the back of boat, I lowered the skis into the water, and then handed Galvin a lifejacket. Before he took it, he stripped off his shirt, revealing a well-conditioned upper body.

"You a lifter?" I blurted out, the surprise keeping me from remaining silent. I knew first-hand how much discipline it took to achieve the muscle mass he had, especially at his young age.

"Yes. It's part of my training," Galvin said as he buckled himself into the jacket.

"Training?"

"Yeah, Dad, didn't you know Galvin's the quarterback of our high school football team? He's really good!" Julie beamed at me, and then at Galvin.

Thinking back to the detailed search I'd run on Galvin, I remembered he had actively played football since he was very young. Again, I felt myself appreciating his dedication to doing something long term.

"Did you play any sports when you were in school, Mr. Manoso?"

I shook my head. "Just a little basketball with the guys in my neighborhood occasionally." _In between stints of petty crimes_, I didn't bother to volunteer.

"I don't mind a good round of basketball, but football's really the game for me," Galvin said as he climbed onto the jet ski and secured the key to his wrist.

Julie debated who she was going to ride with, and I waited for her to make the decision. She chose me. I fought back sending a victorious look his way. Galvin gave her a nod and a smile, and then slowly backed his ski away from the yacht. Once Julie and I were secure on ours, we took off after him.

After about fifteen minutes of full speed riding, Julie asked me to pull up beside of Galvin, and she motioned him to stop. While we idled close together, she changed skis, settled herself behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist at a respectable level.

She blew me a kiss as Galvin revved the engine and took off with my daughter tucked snuggly to his back. It made me feel about a hundred years old.

We slowed the pace some on the return trip back to the boat. When we got back on deck, Stephanie was sound asleep, with her hand resting over her stomach. This was the pose she slept in since our return from Vegas. She was doing a pretty good job keeping the baby a secret while she was awake; her protective mother's instinct was betraying her in sleep.

It was nearly dark when we backed out of Rachel's drive several hours later. My wife was wearing a big smile and cheekily said, "I'm proud of you, babe."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, and instead, cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You were nice!" Stephanie exclaimed. "I can't tell you how worried I was that, at some point today, Galvin would have found himself thrown overboard."

_Well, there was a close call, when I came across him stealing a kiss from Julie __on the front__ deck…_ No need to share that thought with my wife. Though, if he'd have done any more than kiss Julie's lips, I would have taken that as a sign that he needed a 'cooling off' period, which the ocean and I would have readily supplied.

"Babe," I exhaled, which translated into 'would I do that?'

Stephanie laughed out loud. I loved that sound; it went straight to my heart. "Well, we both know you would have, and you wouldn't have been sorry about it, either. Anyway, thank you. It was a great day, and Julie was thrilled that it went so well."

Julie had told me so herself when she gave me a hug as we left. Dammit, it didn't appear that Galvin was going to be leaving her life anytime soon, so I might as well buck up and try to make the best of it, no matter how uncomfortable the situation made me.

We decided to stop for a late dinner at a restaurant close to home, after Stephanie's belly angrily growled out its protest from lack of food.

When we arrived home an hour later, I went into my office to check in with RangeMan. I wanted to make sure there was nothing that needed to be handled before we left Miami, and also remind the control room that, with Raphael out of town, anything requiring immediate attention would have to be directed to me through my cell or the Trenton office until further notice.

Tomorrow was my birthday, and we planned to leave for Trenton first thing in the morning. Stephanie had insisted that we spend the day there and ride with the guys to Bobby's wedding on Saturday afternoon.

It didn't matter to me where we were, though I did wonder what exactly she had planned this year, to celebrate, that required us to be in Trenton.

As I climbed the stairs, I contemplated the possibilities. _Would she tell me about the baby tomorrow?_ I thought that was a definite possibility.

Arriving in our bedroom, I found her reclined on the bed, wearing a black, lacy negligee. My cock immediately hardened at the sight. Her eyes traveled down my body and smiled knowingly at my now obvious hard-on.

"Babe," I growled softly, as her tongue licked out to trace the outline of her lips.

Stephanie crooked her finger in the 'come here' motion. I sprang into action, closing the distance between us in a couple of long strides.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, lightly ran my finger along the lace that partially covered her breast, and watched as that nipple hardened to a tight pebble. My eyes flicked up to look at her face.

She was beautiful.

Her eyes were a deep ocean blue and held that tale tell sign of smokiness that spoke of her lustful intentions. Stephanie's small mouth parted slightly and had me envisioning how hot it was to have my cock buried there. She gave the best fucking blowjobs I'd ever experienced!

My wife had developed a certain style of her own ESP in regards to me, especially in these situations, and she didn't disappoint, when her hand found its way between my legs.

"You need to get naked. Now!"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, quickly reaching behind my back to grab two fistfuls of t-shirt, and then peeled it over my head and tossed it to the floor.

Stephanie's fingernails scrapped along my nipples as I fumbled with the string of my board shorts. I stood, shucked out of the shorts, and kicked them to the side. When I put a knee back down on the bed to return to her side, Stephanie sat up and without hesitation—or warning—sucked my entire length into her mouth.

"Fuck!" I barked out in surprise before clenching my teeth together.

A 'pop' resounded in the room, as Stephanie broke suction from my cock to look up at me, batting her eyelashes in an innocent gesture. She slid a confused expression onto her face. "I thought that's what you wanted, Batman?"

Cocking an eyebrow at her, I accused, "Reading my mind, Babe?"

"Yours… mine… what's the difference?" she purred, and resumed the pleasureous torture, using her teeth to lightly skim the taut skin covering my erection.

To distract myself from the feel of her mouth on my cock and to keep from coming prematurely, I reached down to untie the satin ribbon holding her negligee together. The material slithered into a pool around her waist. I wasted no time taking her breasts into both of my hands, weighing them, caressing them, and then tugging gently on the tips. She moaned. The vibration of it caused my cock to twitch at the sensation. She noticed how it affected me, and moaned again and again, pushing me further and further to the edge.

I could feel the stranglehold I had on my control slipping, and nearly lost it completely when her hand reached behind my balls to tease at my anus._ Holy __shit__! I was going to come like a horny __teenager if__ she didn't change course quickly!_

Stephanie was really getting into it, and it took three tries to pry her off my cock, which seriously tested my resolve to just let go and cum, regardless of the fact that I'd done little for her sexually so far. That wasn't the way I rolled. I tried to make it a point to see that she got her pleasure first, before mine.

"You're killing me here, Stephanie."

"Killing you? That wasn't what I was trying to do at all." She smiled wickedly, moving quickly to suck just the tip of me into her mouth.

_Fuck!_

Two could play this game, and I was falling behind. I didn't like to lose, so I trailed my fingers from the column of her neck, across her breasts, down to her waist, where I grabbed hold of the material of the negligee and hooked a finger around her panties as I pulled all coverings from her body.

I slid to the end of the bed and sat back on my heels to take a few long moments to stare at the feast spread before me—and to plot strategy.

I'd begin by kissing my way from the tips of her strawberry red painted toenails, all the way up to those beautiful pouty lips, stopping for an unquestionable amount of time at her center, where I'd tease her into at least two orgasms. Then, I planned to bury myself inside her and not stop loving her with my body until both of us fell into an exhausted heap. After that, we'd spoon together and sleep until the alarm woke us tomorrow morning.

It sounded like an excellent plan to me! I flashed her a full-watt smile. She shivered in anticipation. I dipped my head to start putting the plan into action, pressing my lips softly to the tip of her toe…

**TBC**

**Author's note: **Can you visualize Ranger's plan? Or better yet, can you visualize yourself as the lucky recipient of his attention? Isn't fiction a wonderful thing? LOL. So, after you're done fantasizing, can you drop a review? I promise to put some of my built-up desire to good use. Wait until you see the beginning of the next chapter! Hee, hee! See ya next week, ~Angie


	10. Surprise or not?

**Chapter 10- Surprise!...or not?**

Disclaimer: No, I'm not getting the big bucks for doling out this drivel, because they belong to Janet Evanovich. BabbleFish is responsible for any/all translation errors.

Author's notes: This chapter contains plot-players' ideas from a few chapters ago for Carlos' birthday present. I'm still holding one back that I'll use in a future chapter.

Thanks to Pril C for her contribution of the Batman gift.

The Carl Sandburg gift Stephanie gives Carlos is LeiaB's response. Thanks, Babe! I'd forgotten about that particular scene in canon. Nice work!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank my beloved plot-players. This week stumped a few of you and some don't want to see any form of retaliation and have very good defenses for your reason. I've taken all of the opinions under advisement. Again, I can't tell you how much all of you inspire and motivate me!

Thanks from the very bottom of my heart to: samsarahi, concetta33, Barb4psu, rangergirl1234, Ryl, babes-tastycakes, shoegirl 01, EEG, LeiaB, ty93, time4tea and LilethFaire(I love your long PMs, and hey, I used your phrase 'baby maker' in this chapter! LOL), CindyKay, rangersluvin and PrilC.

To the real life Isabella, you're the whole deal, Babe! Thanks for everything you do for me! Now, just send Ranger over to talk to me about flour, then I'll start thinking about giving it up.

Thanks, Tracy, for the pre-read and opinion. Who needs coffee when we have smut? LOL! Thanks for all the laughs we share.

Cara, good grief, what a month you've had! Hope you feel better soon! Xoxos!

Thanks to my terrific beta, Jenny.

I hope you don't mind, but I decided to do this chapter completely in Ranger's POV.

The first smut scene (yeah, there's two!) had me a little concerned, and I almost took it out, but after an honest opinion from financebabe and her statement of, "Don't you dare touch that delete button!" I decided to keep it. Thanks, babe, for your support! I hope the rest of you enjoy it, too!

Finally, after an author's note that's nearly as long as the chapter…well, not quite, this one's a doozy. Get comfortable. Enjoy!

**RPOV**

My birthday was already off to a terrific start. The day began with my wife riding, long and hard, on my ever-present morning wood. What a wake-up call! Her shouts of pleasure had resounded off the walls of our bedroom. There'd been another round of hot loving during our shared morning shower.

Stephanie's mood was playful and teasing, while mine ran to full-tilt horniness. Even after two incredible interludes, I still wanted more. My appetite had always been insatiable with her.

When she bent over to load the silverware from breakfast into the dishwasher, I couldn't hold back the urge to be inside her again, nor the erotic thoughts that sprung to mind at the position she was currently in. I stepped behind her and nudged my hardness against the soft curve of her ass. Stephanie stilled, and then looked at me over her shoulder, wearing a shocked and slightly amused expression.

"Seriously?" she teased. "Again?"

I didn't answer verbally—just looked at her intensely and pushed against her once more.

"Well, it _is_ your birthday," she conceded, straightening up as she closed the dishwasher door. "What shall we do this time?" she asked curiously.

After brushing back the hair that hung in front of her ear, I leaned down and growled, "I want to fuck your ass."

She shivered in response. Stephanie's reaction to anal sex had done a three-sixty since our honeymoon. While it wasn't something we did regularly, it wasn't taboo or a no-way-in-hell subject with her anymore. She'd taken to using a butt plug several times a month, so that when anal sex was decided, she had minimal discomfort during the experience.

So, she didn't offer any resistance; she just simply asked, "Where?"

My eyes swept over the kitchen and landed on the table that sat in front of the French doors. It was the perfect height. "The table," I said, which elicited a smile from her. Yeah, we'd spent long, pleasurable hours erasing any bad memories she'd ever had about dining room tables, since we'd been together.

"Whatever you want, Batman," she purred, and started walking towards the table. When she got there, she pulled the chair away from the end of the table, slid her panties down her legs, flipped the skirt of her dress up, and bent over, offering her pretty ass up for my viewing pleasure. I was going to do a lot more than look!

Moisture was already glistening from her pussy. I stroked my fingers through the juices and carried them back to her puckered hole. Stephanie tensed for just a moment, and then blew out a relaxing breath.

As I pushed the index finger of my right hand into the tight opening, my left hand found its way around to circle her clit.

She moaned loudly, and then pushed her ass up in signal for me to add more pressure. After just a few minutes of stroking, she was ready to take my cock. I dropped my pants to the floor, kicked them to the side, and positioned myself first at her wet pussy. I drove into her hard and fast repeatedly, forcing her into a screaming orgasm.

"Ooohhh, yes!" she yelled, and even before the orgasm smoothed out, she turned back at me to say, "Now, my ass. Carlos, fuck my ass!"

Pulling out of her velvety softness, I traveled the short distance to the puckered hole. Gently, I probed the head of my cock into the tightness. She screeched out from the pleasure/pain and bucked against me.

I slid the zipper of her sundress down enough to allow easy access to her breasts, and then reached around to tease one nipple as I slowly pushed further into her ass.

One of Stephanie's hands pulled on the other nipple, and with her free hand, she rubbed at her clit. _Was there anything more erotic than watching her play with herself while I buried __myself in her__ ass?_ Not that I could think of.

The vision caused me to surge forward, burying my entire length inside. _Fuck, she was tight!_ I slowly eased out, only to plunge back into her. Dios, I loved her all the more for exploring, accepting, and enjoying this sexual act with me. My wife was one hell of a woman!

For whatever reason, when we engaged in anal sex, there was always dirty talk. Stephanie's lewd suggestions only fueled my need to take her harder, drive her faster. She flew through another orgasm as I felt my balls start to tighten, and the tingling at the base of my spine begin to grow, which signaled my impending release. Taking one more long, hard stroke, I buried my cock deep and gave myself over to the powerful sensation.

I rested my upper body against Stephanie's back as each of us struggled to bring our breathing back to normal.

The tinkling sound of Stephanie's laugh filled the air and caused my heart to lighten in response.

"We _so_ can't do this after we have a kid running around the house." Her voice was reflective and held a touch of sadness.

It was true, we couldn't be this 'out in the open' with our mating, but I didn't want to lose this part of our relationship, either. Brushing back some of her hair, I nuzzled at the soft skin of her neck.

"Babe, we'll just have to be a little more _covert_."

"Oh, I love it when you talk like that, Batman," she teased.

"Just wait until you see how good I am at being covert and improvising, when the need arises," I growled.

Stephanie shivered, and then nudged her hips back in an effort to stand.

I withdrew from the warmth of her body and helped her straighten up. I kept a firm hold around her waist for a moment, to make sure she was able to stand without stumbling.

She started to zip her dress, and then reconsidered and let it fall to the floor. Stephanie stood gloriously naked before me in the middle of our dining area. I quirked an eyebrow suggestively.

"Put that sexy eyebrow away," she scolded. "I need another shower," Stephanie muttered under her breath.

When I gave her a wolfish smile, she put her hand on my chest. "Oh no, I'm taking this one alone. At this rate, we won't make it to Trenton before midnight!"

It wasn't easy to watch her run naked up the steps to our bedroom, but I found the will-power to let her go. While our sex life had always been active, even after three years of marriage, the last couple of weeks had seen a significant increase of action. _Not that I was complaining!_

Somehow, we managed to keep ourselves out of each other's pants all the way to Trenton. Okay, so part of that was because I was flying the plane and Stephanie was sleeping in the bedroom, but still, there was the drive to the airport in Miami and back to RangeMan Trenton.

We stopped on five to check in with the guys, before we headed to seven. I placed our bags in the bedroom and went to see what Stephanie was doing in the kitchen.

I found her taking deep breaths and holding onto her stomach, while leaning over the sink. Obviously, she was battling another case of nausea. I changed direction before she noticed me and went into my office to check emails.

As I scrolled through the correspondence, I told myself if she didn't tell me about the baby today, I'd bring it up at breakfast tomorrow. I couldn't stand to watch her suffer alone anymore.

Stephanie leaned against the doorjam of the office a short time later, wearing a big smile. "You ready for lunch?"

"Sure. Want me to call Ella?"

"No. I have something else in mind, though it would be nice to say hello to her and Louis before we leave. I love Michelle, but Ella's still the best."

My aunt felt the same way about her. After a short visit in their apartment on six, we headed to the Cayenne. When we were settled in, I backed out of the parking space and asked, "Where to?"

"Back to the beginning," she said mysteriously.

"The beginning of _what_, exactly?" I casted her a sideways glance.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Let's see if you can figure it out."

The playful side of my wife had not left so far, even after numerous rounds of sex. It was going to be a great day! I loved a good challenge. _All right__, Manoso, what is she talking about?_

Since we were supposedly heading out for food, the only thing I could think of was the diner where we'd first met. I wasn't sure if she expected me to vocalize my answer or not, so I didn't, and simply headed downtown towards the restaurant.

Pulling up to the curb directly in front of the place, I contemplated how this grungy little diner had drastically changed the course of my life.

I placed a soft kiss to the back of Stephanie's knuckles, and then looked over to her. "The beginning of it all," I stated simply.

"Very good, Batman," she replied and started to open her door.

"Babe, do you seriously want to have lunch here?" I mentally cringed. This wasn't exactly the sort of place I liked to eat, nor was it the healthiest choice for my pregnant wife or unborn child. Everything here was swimming in butter and fat.

Stephanie laughed. "C'mon, Carlos, live a little."

"That's exactly what I'd like to do, Babe, but the stuff they serve here will kill you."

"Oh, you've been using that line for years. Lighten up. I'm sure we can find a healthy salad or something. Besides, this place has the best cherry pie!" She ran her hand teasingly up my arm and batted her eyelashes. "I know how you like cherry pie."

She had discovered that it was one of the few desserts I enjoyed, though I rarely indulged myself. Come to think of it, that last time I'd had cherry pie, I'd eaten it off of her body.

Raising my eyebrow at her, I said, "Maybe we should get dessert to go?"

"Geez, you're insatiable today!"

There was no denying that fact, so I simply got out of the Cayenne and ran around to help her from the vehicle.

The grilled chicken salad was surprisingly good, and while we were sharing a piece of the cherry pie, Stephanie reached into the huge purse she was carrying today to extract a wrapped gift, sliding it across the table at me.

"Stephanie, I've told you before, I don't need any gifts. I have you."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "Just open the gift and get used to it. This is just the first of several today."

The package appeared to be a book. Opening it, I found an original copy of _My Fair Lady_, and had to smile.

"I've sort of got a theme going here today. You were first my mentor and referenced this book a few times. I thought it would be appropriate to add it your collection."

"Thanks, Babe," I said softly, tugging on our clasped hands to bring her lips to mine across the table.

"You surprised me that day…" She paused and laughed a little. "Well, surprised and scared the hell out of me."

"You didn't show it, Stephanie. I thought you were a little crazy for trying to become a bounty hunter, but I admired your determination…still do, actually. You don't back down from a challenge, Mrs. Manoso."

"Having you as my back-up sure is a confidence boaster. Always has been," she chuckled. "Ya know, you were such an enigma back then. I couldn't reconcile the street thug persona with the polished, well-mannered man you were with me in private."

That statement caused my eyebrow to shoot up. "Well-mannered? Is that what you called our little 'encounters' in the alley?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "No, that's not what I'm talking about. I meant your mannerisms, the way you carried yourself, the way you treated me. It was more… gentlemanly, I guess."

"Yeah, that's all thanks to my dad and a little bit of the military."

"I can see that now, of course, especially after seeing your mom and dad together. We'll be good parents like them, won't we?" she asked, concern showing on her face.

"Stephanie, we'll be great. Don't worry. Our children will know love and respect and have every opportunity to thrive. You'll be a wonderful mother."

"I hope you're right." She blew out an unsteady breath, her eyes swimming with unshed tears.

"I know I am, Babe." I squeezed her hand in reassurance. _Now? __Is this when__ she tells me she's pregnant?_

There were several long minutes of silence while I waited…

She seemed to draw herself up for something, and then pushed it back, smoothed her hair nervously, and said, "You ready for the next stop?"

I nodded my head, and we walked arm in arm to the Cayenne, not letting my disappointment show in any way. Once we'd settled in, I turned to her for our next destination.

Stephanie gave be a beautiful smile. "The first time you rescued me."

My eyes skimmed down her body in remembrance of the first time I saw her naked. She shifted a little in her seat under my intense gaze. _Sweet fuck, I was ready for her again._ After checking the mirror, I pulled out into traffic and headed towards her old apartment.

The parking spot directly in front of the door was available, so I parked there. Stephanie mumbled under her breath, "Figures. Some things never change."

Things had changed in this apartment building, though. RangeMan owned it now. After discussing it with Stephanie, we decided to purchase it and do the much needed rehab on the building, while keeping the rent set for the many fixed income seniors that lived here.

Stephanie thought it was a small way to pay them back for the years of chaos that happened when she lived in the small apartment on the second floor. This building also provided a nice cover as a safe house for RangeMan clients when need be. Everybody won.

We got out of the car, but instead of walking to the door, Stephanie pulled me to a parking spot a couple of places over. She stopped, turned, and pressed her lips to mine. _Our first kiss._ Years ago, I'd initiated the contact; this time, she did. The result was still the same. Just the feel of her mouth caused my heart rate to kick up.

Stephanie buried her fingers in my hair as her tongue dove into my mouth. I tightened my grip around her waist and lost myself in the kiss. Our tongues dueled and teased, while teeth nipped lightly at each other's lips. I don't know how long we stood there making out, and I didn't care. Kissing her was still one of my greatest pleasures.

As always, though, kissing—especially intense like this—usually led to clothes being shed, and that wasn't happening here in the parking lot. Just as I started to pull back from Stephanie, I heard Mr. Wolseky's loud whistle, which brought several more seniors out onto their balconies.

"Now that's the way it's done!" Mr. Wolseky commented to his neighbor.

"Oh, Stephanie's back," an older resident said enthusiastically. "It's always exciting when she's around—especially when Ranger is with her."

Stephanie groaned and rested her head against my chest. "What is it with me and Trenton? Can I ever come here and not cause a scene?"

"Babe, you know how nosy they are. They've probably been watching since we pulled into the lot. We weren't causing a scene."

"Yet," Stephanie added to my statement. "Another couple of minutes, though, and things were going to get interesting."

"No, I was getting ready to stop us," I told her as I brushed the hair off of her forehead and placed a kiss there.

We waved up and spoke a few words to the seniors that were out, before we went into the building. Stephanie hesitated at the elevator, but then pulled us to the stairs. I started to stop her, but she just said, "It's your birthday. We take the stairs."

The apartment that had once been hers had undergone a drastic change. Stephanie had decorated it herself, choosing everything from the paint to the furniture. The apartment was currently empty. We stepped inside, and Stephanie blew out a shuddering breath as she crossed the spot where I'd been shot by Scrog.

"I'll never forget that moment," she murmured, her brilliant sapphire blue eyes looking up at me as I wrapped her in an embrace. "It was the first time I realized how much I loved you, and then the shots were fired." She trembled. "I could have lost you that day."

"We were always meant to be together, Babe, and he didn't stop that from happening. We beat him and all the other obstacles that stood in our way."

"We are a pretty good team," she said cheerfully.

"The best," I agreed.

Stephanie hitched her purse up on her shoulder and told me she needed to use the bathroom. She pressed a kiss to my neck, and then walked away.

I went over to look out the window while I waited. A few minutes later, my cellphone vibrated. I took it off the clip on my belt and checked the display.

With a smile on my face and in my voice, I answered, "Yo."

"Ranger?"

"Who wants to know?" I answered her, using the same tone I had the first time we'd had this conversation.

"Stephanie Plum Manoso. I have a problem."

The adding of Manoso caused my smile to get bigger. _She was all mine!_ "What's the problem?"

"I'm handcuffed to this shower curtain rod, and I need someone to open the cuffs."

"Are you naked this time, too?" I asked, veering off the original way this had gone down, because my dick was demanding an immediate answer and wasn't in the mood to wait.

"Oh, yeah," she purred.

Snapping the phone shut, I raced towards the bathroom. My shoulder connected hard with the door as the knob was unexpectedly locked. That was a twist, but not a problem.

"You're pulling the tiger's tail," I cautioned her through the door. I grabbed the multi-tool from the pocket of my pants, working quickly at the lock.

It took minimal effort to unlock the door. I slowly pushed it open, to find Stephanie wearing nothing but a nervous smile and her heels. I took two steps into the room, closed the door, and then rested against it, taking a long, leisurely look at my naked wife. Her nipples were already pebbled, and I could tell by the expression on her face that she was as aroused as I was.

"I didn't want to make it too easy on you," she explained. Her tongue traced the outline of her lips as I began to unbutton my shirt and tossed it to the floor. "So I locked the door," she continued, watching intently while I toed off my socks and shoes, and then went to work on my pants. "I knew it wouldn't be a problem, being as you're _my_ Batman and all."

My cock sprang free as my pants fell to the floor. Stephanie groaned. I stroked myself a couple of times while she watched, causing her to rub her thighs together anxiously. I knew she'd be wet and ready for me. As I closed the distance between us, I noticed another gift sitting on the counter. I set her cell phone that she'd been holding in her hand next to the package.

"Is that anything we need now?" I asked, wondering if she'd brought a toy to add to our bigger, broadly-expansive black box. This gift was a larger rectangular box that took up most of the countertop.

"Hmm," she considered. "I thought I might like to see you in it, but now that you're naked, I can't wait. Maybe another time?"

I had no idea what the box contained, but I fully agreed with the not waiting part. My cock was painfully hard. I stepped into the tub with her and ran my hands gently up her arms. "Are you okay like this?"

"Yes, so far the only throb is between my legs."

"I can definitely help with that," I told her and traced my fingers down her body until I got the delicate folds. Parting them tenderly, I found that she was indeed wet and ready. "Dios, I love how you respond to me," I whispered, as I plunged two fingers inside her.

Her squeak turned into a long moan of pleasure. Grabbing her left breast with my free hand, I brought it to my mouth and sucked greedily at it. She pushed against me with her upper body as her hips bucked and rode my fingers. I pulled my mouth free of her breast and flattened my tongue, moistening the entire areola with a couple of long licks, before blowing softly on the area.

Stephanie's breasts had become extremely sensitive in the last couple of weeks. I done some research online and found that was a common thing among pregnant women. I carefully gauged my attention to them, because I didn't want to cause her any discomfort.

In fact, I knew during this pregnancy, I'd have to be even more conscious of where her comfort levels were, as her body changed and grew with our child. We'd have to make some adjustments along the way, but I saw that as a pleasurable challenge, and not a problem at all.

While I directed my attention to her other breast, Stephanie panted through an orgasm. My fingers stilled as her walls clenched around me. When she settled some, I began stroking her again, building her up for another. It didn't take long, and just as she was ready to go over again, I stopped and withdrew my fingers.

"Arrgghhh," she dragged out.

"Patience," I breathed into her ear, as I positioned myself to her dripping center, and then slowly pushed into the velvety softness.

I lifted both of her legs and looped them around my waist, taking the weight of her body easily and easing the pressure of having her arms held above her head. Stephanie tightened the inner muscles of her pussy, causing me to groan. I took three steps forward, the cuffs dragging along the rod, until her back connected with the wall.

With my hands planted firmly at her waist, I was able to hold her in place, while I drove up with long, steady strokes. She alternated between biting at her lip and moaning. I watched her face as the pleasure built. When we were both close, we stared into each other's eyes until we began to climax, and then our mouths gravitated together in a deep, passionate kiss.

"Should've done this the first time," Stephanie panted out, still trying to catch her breath.

"And miss all the other fun we've had?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but I could have foregone some of the stuff."

"Okay?" I asked, as I withdrew from her and held her until I was sure she was steady.

"Yep. Can you get me free now?"

"Sure thing, Babe." I reached into the pocket of my pants lying on the floor, to withdraw the cuff key I always carried with me.

The cuffs were released, and I spent some time rubbing the circulation back into Stephanie's arms. She handed me the gift and asked me to take it into the bedroom, while she finished in the bathroom.

I picked up my clothes and left the room. The box was heavier than it looked. I placed it on the bed and got dressed.

Stephanie didn't take long, and when she came out, she sat down next to me on the bed.

"This room had a first, too," I remarked casually.

"It did. The first time we had sex," Stephanie told me with a slight grin.

Neither of us mistaked that for the love making we shared now, though that night changed everything for me about her. Instead of staunching the lust that flowed between us, it had caused it to flare up, and I thought stupidly at the time that sending her to Morelli would fix it, bring it to an end. Probably the dumbest move of my entire life. _G__racias a Dios,__ she forgave me!_

Stephanie seemed to sense where my train of thought had gone and patted my hand in understanding. We'd both made mistakes in our early relationship, but we'd learned from them and grown.

"Open your gift!"

Reaching around, I picked the gift up, placed it in my lap, and began unwrapping it. When I pulled back the tissue paper, I had to smile at what lay underneath.

_A Batman Suit, complete with mask._

"Babe."

"I know you sometimes hate that I thought of you as some super-hero, but I couldn't resist. It's from the same company that made Christian Slater's Batman suit."

I picked the pieces up and found several comic books underneath.

"Did you know Wonder Woman and Batman sort of had a thing?" Stephanie asked.

Shaking my head, I said, "No, I didn't. Comic books never really interested me."

"Well, you're going to have to read up! Dads should know these things. They're important."

_Was this the way she was going to tell me? With a Batman reference?_

"Are you trying to tell me something _important_?" I questioned.

"No," she stated firmly, looking at me with a strange expression. "I'm just speaking in general. Dads should know about super-heros."

"If you say so. Looks like I've already got some books to get started with. Thanks. The costume is cool, too."

Stephanie clapped her hands together. "Maybe you could wear it for Halloween this year?"

I mentally groaned. It was her year to pick out our costumes. We alternated. Shit, I guess there wasn't going to be much of a surprise this year.

"It's your year."

"You're right, it is! Yay! I've been avoiding going with the obvious, but I think we'll just do it this year. Now, I've got to find a Wonder Woman costume…"

_One that __expands,_ I thought, wondering if she'd be starting to show by then.

We spent the rest of the day visiting other firsts that we'd shared here in Trenton, including a dinner at Rossini's. I thought for sure she'd tell me about the pregnancy there, tying it into when I'd first told her about Julie, but she didn't.

It was nearly eleven by the time we headed back to RangeMan, and instead of my wife being half asleep as she usually was at this hour, she was fidgeting in her seat, unable to sit still.

"Steph, is something wrong?" I asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Have to go to the bathroom," she said in a rush, that didn't sound completely like the truth.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot in impatience as the elevator climbed to seven. As soon as the door opened, she burst through and stood outside the apartment door, waiting for me to open it. The fob clicked the lock open, and she grabbed the handle before I could.

"I have a couple more presents for you," she told me over her shoulder as she walked towards the bathroom. "Could you wait in the bedroom for me?"

Nodding, I dropped the keys into the side table dish and undid my shoes. I decided to grab a beer from the refrigerator and take it with me to the bedroom while I waited. It was nearly half gone when Stephanie finally emerged from the bathroom.

She was a vision, wearing a blue satin robe that hid what lay underneath, but white stockings attached to a garter belt could easily be seen. Fuck, she knew how I liked garter belts.

"This is where I first told you that I loved you and where we agreed to start our relationship. Happy Birthday, Carlos," she said, tears welling up in her eyes as she handed me another gift.

I tore the wrapping away to find a book of poems by Carl Sandburg, and I remembered I quoted him to her once during a take-down. I'd always enjoyed his work, and at the time, the quote seemed appropriate. I was surprised she'd recognized his work back then, and even more surprised that she remembered it now.

I knew where she was going with this, and wasn't disappointed when I found the quote already highlighted and marked in the book.

_"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on…"_

When I looked up to confirm my suspicion, I found her standing in a lacy white bra and panties, with a white bow tied around her belly.

"We're going to have a baby!" she announced.

_Finally._

If I'd thought I was prepared to hear the words, I wasn't. They went straight to my heart. I reached forward, untied the bow, and leaned in to place a kiss on her still flat stomach. I was so happy that I didn't stop to think before I said, "I know, Babe."

Stephanie's body tensed at my words. Her hands plowed into my hair to tilt my head up so she could look at me, and I saw confusion lining her face. "You know? For how long? Who told you? Did Raphael tell you? I'll kill him," she began to ramble, threatening to chop Raphael's 'baby-maker' off when he got back from his honeymoon.

_Wait, she told Raphael she was pregnant before me?_

"Stephanie, stop," I said gently. "No one told me. I figured it out myself when your period was late. I know you've been nauseous frequently, and your breasts are bigger, more tender."

She let out a long breath and smiled down at me as the tears began to spill from her eyes. With my thumbs, I wiped them away and pulled her down into my lap. "Even though I knew, hearing you say the words… Dios, yo no podría estar más feliz. Te amo, nena. Gracias por el regalo más grande." (God, I couldn't be happier. I love you, Babe. Thank you for the greatest gift.)

"Te amo, Carlos! Estoy muy feliz, también. Usted no sabe lo difícil que era para evitar que esto usted." (I love you, Carlos. I'm so happy, too. You don't know how difficult it was to keep this from you.)

I held her tightly against me, while she rested her head on my shoulder. The material of my shirt became wet. I pulled her back and slowly kissed the moisture from her face, before finding her lips. I cradled her head between my hands as I kissed her with all the emotion I was feeling right then. It was overwhelming.

The need to be skin to skin with her became an obsession, and she seemed to feel the same way. We were frantic to free each other from our clothing. Once we were naked, we cuddled together under the covers of our bed. I continued to kiss lightly at her neck, while she ran her hands up and down my back.

This was an emotional intimacy that was as great as the feeling of being buried inside her, and something I'd only ever shared with Stephanie. We lay like that for a long time, each of us savoring the closeness and the thought of having a physical representation of our love... o_ur child!_

Stephanie was resting on my chest, while I played with her hair, when I decided to broach the subject of my brother knowing about the pregnancy. As far as I knew, he'd only suspected, as I had, and didn't actually know. Maybe that's what she meant, or had he slipped up about my suspicions? If he had, Stephanie would have to get in line behind me in her 'killing of Raphael.'

"Babe, you went a little crazy earlier." I paused as she chuckled, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing, either.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I thought I'd done a pretty good job of keeping it from you." Stephanie blew out a long breath. "I should have known better. You're a hard one to keep a secret from. You're so damn observant!"

"Should I apologize for that?"

"No, of course not. It's one of my favorite qualities about you…most of the time," she giggled.

"You said, 'Did Raphael tell you?' Does my brother know you're pregnant?"

"Argh," she groaned. "That didn't get past you, either, huh?"

"No. Care to explain?"

"Well, he got the first idea about it when I threw up in his Porsche."

A bark of laughter erupted from my chest. "Really?"

"Uhh, yeah, right after we left McDonald's. Our little munchkin apparently doesn't like their food any better than you do."

"I'd have paid good money to see the look on his face."

"It was probably pretty funny, but I was too busy doing the math from my last period. I'd been trying not to think too hard about getting pregnant for fear I wouldn't, so I'd lost track of the time."

"Have you taken a test to confirm it?"

Stephanie rose up from her place on my chest to look into my eyes. "Yes. Please don't be upset that I didn't do it with you." She frowned for a moment. "After the last false alarm…well, I just wanted to make sure this time before I told you."

"I'm not upset, Babe. I understand."

"The test is actually how Raphael found out. It fell out of Isabella's purse. He thought it was hers."

"Oh, shit! Bet he was pissed."

"Yeah, at first, but then he was pretty smug because he'd figured it out before me."

"That sounds like my brother. So you found out in Vegas?"

"Yes. Are you sure you aren't mad that I waited until your birthday to tell you? I just thought this would be the perfect day."

"Quit worrying about it. I'm fine, and it is perfect. When's our due date?"

Stephanie looked confused for a moment. "Uh, nine months from our anniversary? I'm pretty sure that's when I got pregnant. It's that powerful Bat-sprem, I'm telling you!"

I shook my head at her in amusement.

"This might have a more specific way of telling us though," she said as she handed me yet another gift.

Opening the box, I found several books on pregnancy, including a father's guide for dealing with their pregnant wife. I'd read that one from cover to cover, not that it would provide much insight, though, as my wife was rarely predictable.

I wanted to have a very active part in this experience, as I'd missed all of it with Julie. Plus, this was a decision we'd made together, and I couldn't be more thrilled to share this wonderful experience with Stephanie.

We spent over an hour looking through the books, before I turned out the light and we spooned together comfortably. As I lay listening to Stephanie's even breathing, our fingers twined together, resting protectively over our child, I considered just how charmed my life was right now. It was so much more than I'd ever dreamed it would be with the perfect woman by my side to share it with, and a new, tiny life growing inside her. Fuck yeah, life was pretty damn good!

**TBC**

Author's notes: Awww, are you enjoying the happy contentment of our favorite couple? I hope this chapter kept you entertained. I appreciate your support. Please take a moment to review. Have a great week! See ya, next Wednesday~Angie


	11. Booby Trap

**Chapter 11-Booby Trap**

Disclaimer: JE owns them, I play with them for no personal profit.

Author's note: A great big thanks to all of you who support this story (and me) through reviews and PMs. You keep me motivated! Thanks!

We had a nearly unanimous vote for last week's plot-player question. LOL! Most of you were on the same page as me. Yay!

Special thanks to the coolest gals on the planet, my beloved plot-players: rangersluvin, LilethFaire, Barb4psu, fairytaleprincess, margaret fowler, janetfan150, kjen, concetta33, CindyKay, time4tea, Pril C, rangergirl1234, Amanda Babe, Leia B, ty93, EEG, financebabe, samsarahi, forever babe & Milenab.

I also owe a special shout out to EEG (a.k.a.-The Plot Bunny) for last chapter's idea of Stephanie giving the baby as a gift for Carlos' birthday. She thought up the bow. Thanks, Babe!

Thanks to Tracy, who provided opinions through her pre-read. She managed to squeeze it in between watching for Robert appearances. LOL!

As always, I appreciate the wonderful support of the 'real life' Isabella, even if her and Ranger have twisted ideas about flour! Xoxo's, Babe! She also thought up the Chapter Title this week. Nice job!

Cara, glad you're finally on the road to recovery!

This story has the privilege of being expertly reviewed and corrected by SuperBeta, Jenny! Thanks, Babe!

**SPOV**

I've never been a morning person. It's a well known fact—ask anyone that knows me—but since my life became permanently entwined with one Carlos Manoso, that has changed some.

Mornings still suck, however; when I wake to feel the warm hardness of his body wrapped snuggly behind me…well, the first hours of the day don't look _so_ bad.

"Good morning, my little mother-to-be." His voice was sexy as hell and provided a raring wake-up call to the more intimate spots of my body.

"Mor'n, Daddy-O," I mumbled, not bothering to hide the smile in my tone.

"Babe," Carlos blew out in mock sternness.

We both shared a laugh at the silly way we were greeting the morning and the giddiness of expecting our first child. I felt Carlos' hand rub gently at my belly, which caused tears to prickle at the corner of my eyes. _Damn hormones!_

"How's our baby doing this morning?" he asked, while continuing to lovingly stroke my still flat stomach.

For just a moment, I lay and absorbed the complete feeling of rightness. Sure, I was a little scared about being a mother, carrying the child, a painful delivery, complications, and any other number of worries women have when they are expecting, but right now, in this moment, everything was right…except, maybe, that small twinge of unrest in my stomach.

_Not morning sickness now!_ C'mon, Fate, give me a break. Can't I at least enjoy the first morning after I've told Carlos about the baby? Maybe celebrate – the horizontal variety. We _had_ fallen asleep last night before we could celebrate in the physical sense.

Carlos' hand stilled on my stomach, and he started to change positions. "Stephanie, are you okay?"

"Don't move!" I cautioned, knowing the least bit of motion could cause me to spontaneously throw up.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"Stomach's upset. Maybe if we don't move, it'll go away; then we can get on with more _interesting_ things."

"How often are you getting sick? Do you have a doctor's appointment scheduled? I doubt Bobby would know much, but we could call him… or maybe Susan's available?"

"Stop!" I said quickly. "You're rambling, and honestly, that freaks me out a little bit. You're Ranger! Where's the calm, cool, collected man I know?"

I rolled over, gingerly, willing my stomach to cooperative, to look into the gorgeous face of my husband.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "I don't ramble."

"Hmm, sounded like it to me," I teased. "Anyway, we're not calling Bobby, or anyone else for that matter, because it's his wedding day. I'm pregnant," I stated, and watched as his face lit up. "Getting sick is part of the deal. It doesn't last long, I promise, and most of time, I feel great!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm feeling better already. Wanna celebrate?" I tried to wiggle my eyebrows suggestively, while my hand traced down his body to see if his cock was on board with my idea. _Oh yay, it was!_

I traced my finger around just the tip of his velvet softness. When I looked up at him, I found him staring at me with a look of pure heat that caused my doodah to sound a four-alarm alert. There was nothing sexier than a fully aroused Carlos Manoso. I was one lucky woman!

His eyes shuttered close and his jaw tightened as I began to pump up and down on the hard, straining shaft of his cock. Carlos' chest vibrated with a stifled groan when I added more pressure with each downward stroke.

Carlos was not one to sit back and just take his pleasure without reciprocation, and when his right hand found its way between my legs, it caused me to lose the rhythm I'd set stroking his cock. The man had talented fingers that could have me whimpering in about three seconds flat. I arched into his touch.

"You're so beautiful, Babe," he breathed against the column of my neck. "And when your body starts to expand with our child…sweet fuck, I'm going to want you all the time."

"Wow, that'll be a big change," I quipped sarcastically, which earned me a soft love bite from him. I groaned at the slight pain and urged him on with a buck from my hips.

His smoldering dark chocolate gaze settled on me. "This time is going to be slow and easy."

"You know I prefer fast and hard," I whined, pulling on his cock with a firm grip.

"Stephanie, please," Carlos pleaded as he reached down to remove my hand from him.

"Fine," I huffed out with teasing disdain, and flipped spread eagle onto my back. "Do your worst."

Carlos chuckled softly. "Only my best for you, Babe," he growled seductively, the rough timbre of his voice causing my skin to tingle.

He began a slow, pleasure-building exploration of my body, stopping at the more sensitive spots for extra attention. By the time his face was nuzzled between my legs, I was ready to beg. In fact, I did just that.

"Carlos, please..." I moaned.

"Just let go, Steph," he said against the delicate bundle of nerves that he was plying with his tongue.

When two of his fingers slid into me, I began to pant, willing the powerful orgasm to hurry the hell up; I was getting impatient. Carlos teased at my g-spot, causing me to whimper. He knew exactly how to play my body. He'd become an expert on sensing just how far to push, without driving me over.

"C'mon," I complained.

"You ready?" he asked teasingly. _The damn sadist!_

"Yes!" I practically shouted at him.

"You're so impatient sometimes," Carlos observed.

There was a moment of complete stillness. He withdrew his fingers from my body, and I glared down at him. Carlos flashed me his deadly wolfish smile, before springing into action. Three of his strong fingers plunged into me, seeking and finding the exact spot I needed them, and just for added impact, his teeth bit down on my clit.

_Halleluiah!_

"Ooohhhh, fuck!" I screamed as the orgasm finally arrived.

My release gushed out, causing Carlos to lick and suck at it greedily.

"Dios, Babe," he said with an 'I did that to you' smirk.

"Smug, are you?" I asked him between ragged breaths.

Carlos sat back on his knees and smiled a knowing smile. I was fully aware of his Cuban Sex God abilities, but I wasn't without my own arsenal of tricks to drive him out of his mind.

I stretched lazily and crooked a finger at him in the 'come here' sign. His eyebrow arched up in suspicion. _He knew me too well._

When he shifted his weight to the right, I pounced, forcing him onto his back. I straddled his body quickly, hovering my wet center directly above his erect cock, and leaned down into his face.

"What's that saying about paybacks?" I asked rhetorically. Before he could reply, I slammed down onto his cock. Hard.

"Fuck!" he barked out.

"Oh yeah, Batman," I said, riding him for all I was worth. "We did it your way. Now we do it mine!"

We both went a little crazy. The pace was intense. Fingers pinched. Teeth bit and marked. It was animalistic, and I loved every freakin' minute of it. We climaxed together, each roaring out the other's name, before falling into a heap of sweaty, tangled limbs.

"Now that's the way it's done!" I remarked with exhaustion, looking over at my husband, who had his arm draped across his eyes, breathing deep breaths through his nose in an effort to regain himself.

Of course, he recovered first, and there was concern on his face when he said, "Babe, we need to make sure we don't do anything to hurt the baby. Rough sex might be out for a while."

"Carlos, I doubt that hurt the baby in any way."

"Maybe not this time—it's still early—but we need to find out."

"Are we going to ask the doctor about sex?" I asked, horrified at the uncomfortableness of the question.

"Stephanie, we just need to be careful, and be open and honest with the obstetrician." Carlos brushed back some hair from my face. "Obviously, we had to have had sex to end up pregnant in her office, so she won't be surprised by the question," he teased.

"Ha ha, funny guy," I joked. "One look at you, and she'll know I jump your body at every available opportunity."

Carlos smiled in that sexy heart-stopping way. "What can I say? I'm a lucky man. Speaking of this body, I need to get down to the gym. The guys will have a field day with me if I get any later."

"After the last hour of sexual gymnastics we've had, you're still going to the gym?"

"That workout only focused mainly on one particular area. The rest of my body needs exercise, too," he teased. "Plus, I promised Tank a round in the sparing ring."

I trailed my fingertips down his strong biceps. "I love _every_ square inch of this body. Don't bring it back all sore and bruised. Of course, if you're sore, I could always give you a massage."

"Maybe I'll let Tank get in a couple of good shots. It'll be worth it." Carlos dropped a soft kiss to my lips, before he rose from the bed. "Are you going back to sleep?"

Nodding my head, I snuggled into the warm place his body had just vacated. "Yeah, then I think I'll go to my parents for breakfast."

"Do you want me to come along?"

"No, I can go see them by myself. I'm sure you've got things to do here."

"With Raphael gone, I really could use a couple of hours in the office," Carlos admitted.

"I figured as much. It's no problem."

"Babe, when do you want to tell everyone about the baby?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. I was too excited and busy planning how I was going to tell you. What do you think?"

"I think we should at least wait until we see the doctor—make sure everything's all right," he added quietly.

The fear of something not being all right was already a concern for me, and I tried to push it back, but not before Carlos noticed it on my face.

"Stephanie, it'll be okay," Carlos said, sitting down next to me on the bed, grabbing hold of my hand and entwining our fingers. "We're in this together. There's no reason to think we won't—or can't—have a healthy pregnancy and delivery."

"I know that…logically, but it's still a concern. I agree. We should wait until we see the doctor. Get an accurate due date."

"I'm pretty sure it'll be close to the twentieth of February, Babe."

One of the things we'd done last night before we fell asleep was plug the numbers into the formula one of the books supplied. Somehow, having an actual date made it all seem more real and exciting. We'd shared a huge smile and several kisses, and then Carlos had marked the date, the entire week, on the calendar of his phone. My husband, the incisive organizer and planner.

"Yeah, I'm sure that date's close. It's going to be a big change for us. I'm looking forward to all of it. Well, maybe not the dirty diapers and middle of the night feedings, but still..." I told him with a smile.

"I'll help—especially with the middle of the night feedings. I don't need as much sleep as you do. We'll work it out together," Carlos said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm going downstairs now. Go back to sleep. I'll see you later. We need to leave around fourteen hundred for the wedding."

"Okay," I said sleepily. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Steph," his voice whispered in my ear.

The feel of his lips on my cheek were the last thing I remembered, before I dropped off to sleep.

**RPOV**

When I arrived in the gym, I found most of the men already hard at work. _Shit, I hated to be __late!_ I couldn't be too mad about the delay, though, because the last twenty-four hours had been pretty fucking fantastic. _Damn, life was good!_

I didn't mask the smile that creased my face. Honestly, I didn't think I had the strength to hide my happiness; nor did I want to.

"Someone's late for a fairly obvious reason, judging from that smile," Tank observed from the treadmill he was running full out on. He slowed and looked at me closely as I began a brisk pace on the machine next to him. "Fuck man, those teeth marks are going to show in the pictures."

I shot him a look and reached up to check for soreness on my neck, trying to decide if any marks would show above the collar of my tux. Tank barked out a loud laugh.

"Shit, we're a couple of lucky bastards, aren't we?" Tank asked. We both already knew the answer to that question. "Just let me know when you're ready for the ring. I'm going to kick the living shit out of your happy ass."

"Plan to eat those words in a few minutes, _Pierre_."

Tank stopped, fire flashing into his eyes—exactly the reaction I was looking for when I used his given name—and then he smiled a big, toothy grin. "Game on, fucker."

And damn if it wasn't. I don't know the last time we'd worked each other harder. It had been too long since Tank and I had sparred. I missed our daily workouts together, but Stephanie and I both enjoyed living in Miami more than Trenton. It was just one of the sacrifices we'd made with that decision.

Everyone in the gym stood around the outside of the ring, watching us square off, calling out encouragements and groaning through the harder blows. Tank was bigger, but I was faster. We'd always been pretty evenly matched; that's what made it fun being pitted against him.

In the end, we called it a draw as we helped each other out of the ring.

"Shit," Santos said as we walked towards the locker room. "That was some match. You'd better get drunk tonight, 'cause you're going to be fucking sore tomorrow."

"Thanks for those wise words of wisdom, Dr. Santos," Tank commented dryly.

Damn, if Santos was right, though. I was going to need that massage later from Stephanie, and a long soak in the whirlpool sounded pretty fucking good right now.

After a couple of hours in my office going over business in Trenton and handling a few things from the Miami and Boston offices, I went up to seven to start getting ready for Brown's wedding. The entire core team here in Trenton was serving as groomsmen.

When I walked into the bedroom, I found my tux laid out on the bed and my wife struggling to get the zipper of her dress zipped. She hadn't noticed my arrival yet. _This woman and the awareness of her surroundings…_ Stephanie reached around, twisted her hand, jumped a little, and then finally cursed under her breath at her inability to get the zipper pulled up.

"Need some help?" I whispered into her ear.

"Dammit, Carlos," she yelped. "Make some noise!" She turned sharply on her staggering heels to glare at me. "And don't say anything about me being aware!"

Her tone was more than teasing. She was pissed.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"I can't get this zipper zipped for one thing," she fumed.

I stepped to her back and gave the zipper a tug. It moved up easily, until it got to just below her shoulder blades, where it stopped. I held the material together with one hand and tugged at the zipper again. It moved _maybe_ an inch. If I pulled anymore, I was afraid the material would rip.

"I don't think this dress fits," I said cautiously, aware of the delicacy of her emotions.

"Of course it does. I brought it in April for this wedding, because it's a match to their colors and it fit me like a glove. It's perfect!"

"April?" I asked, stepping around to Stephanie's front.

Holy shit, her breasts were all but falling out of the dress. "Um, Babe..." I hesitated. Given her mood, I didn't want to upset her further. "With the pregnancy, I've noticed your breasts have gotten…well, bigger... ah, nicer," I added with a smile. "This dress doesn't fit you now."

"What?" she exclaimed, tears beginning to pool in those beautiful blue eyes.

Gently, I led her to the mirror so she could see exactly what I was saying.

"Geez! Look at my boobs! They _are_ bigger!"

My cock nodded its head in agreement. Good thing I'd allowed extra time before we had to leave. We were going to need it.

I stepped behind Stephanie, who stood gaping in the mirror, and cupped her _larger _breasts in my hands. When the hardness of my cock rubbed against the curve of her ass, she moaned and pushed back in encouragement.

"Tell me we have time."

"Yeah, we've got about thirty minutes."

"Good enough for me," she said, turning, and all but ripped the clothes from my body.

Thirty-five minutes later, a sated and happier Stephanie stood naked in the dressing room, trying to find another dress to wear. After three attempts, she finally found one that suited her. It still showed an adequate about of cleavage, which was going to be a distraction for me. _Fuck yeah, I loved the look of her pregnant!_

We were driving to the church a short time later, surprisingly enough still on time, when Stephanie broke the silence of my zone.

"I think Mom already suspects I'm pregnant," Stephanie blurted out, then bit at her lip nervously.

"What gave you that idea?"

"She kept looking at me weird—knowingly. And Grandma kept commenting on 'how healthy' I looked, that I was glowing." Stephanie stopped to groan. "Of course, she thinks it from all that 'hot loving' I'm getting from you."

"Well, it did put you in your current condition."

Stephanie slapped my arm and rolled her eyes. "You're terrible. I'm telling you, they know!"

Reaching out, I caressed her stomach lovingly. "Babe, maybe you're being a little paranoid. There's no way they can know this early in the pregnancy. We just figured it out ourselves."

She huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm _not_ being paranoid."

I pulled the Cayenne to a stop a short distance from the church. "I didn't mean to upset you. You are easy to read, so maybe they just picked up on something different about you." Stephanie turned to look at me. "And Babe, you do glow. You've never been more beautiful."

"Aww, Carlos," she purred, leaning over to kiss me gently.

Shit, her emotions were all over the place. I felt like I'd been on a roller coaster ride. _Is this what the next several months will be like?_

When we separated, I went around to get her door.

"You're pretty handsome yourself," she said as we walked down the sidewalk. "God, I love to see you in a tux."

We were greeted by several people when we got to the front of the church, and were then led inside to begin the pictures. The wedding went off without a hitch. Stephanie cried silent tears through most of the ceremony. Weddings and funerals always caused that reaction with her. I hated that I had to stand up front and wasn't able to be by her side.

The reception was in full swing, later that evening, when Stephanie was holding Tank and Susan's daughter, Mikaylla, in her arms. We shared a knowing look, each of us well aware that in a few short months, we'd have a tiny baby of our own to hold.

Susan sat on Tank's lap comfortably next to us. "Stephanie, you've never looked better," she said with a smile. "Doesn't she just have a glow about her?" Susan asked Tank.

Tank stopped to stare at first me, and then Stephanie. His look was penetrating. It was one of the reasons he'd been such a damn good interrogator in the Army; nothing got past him.

_Fuck__, we were had!_

"Something you two would like to share with us?" Tank asked conversationally, smirking slightly.

**TBC**

Author's notes: So have they been had? LOL.

Ranger's in a tux! God, what the 'vision' of that does for me. Yum! I'm just going to drag him off into a closet somewhere and have my wicked way with him. We'll surface sometime early next Wednesday! Have a great week. I know I will, "Right this way, Ranger!" ;)

Please leave a review! Thanks~Angie


	12. Private Time in Closets

**Chapter 12-Private Time in Closets**

Disclaimer: JE owns all rights to the 'Plum World'. I just like to drag her characters off to closets for a little fun and excitement!

Author's notes: I'm sure, if I let my mom read this smut-ridden story, she'd be proud of my overall grade. LOL! I'd like to thank my beloved plot-player's (stand-in teachers) this week for their honest and objective banter regarding last week's question. Some of your suggestions I put into immediate practice and even added to this chapter to accommodate them.

Thanks so much!: time4tea, CindyKay, Milenab, BuffaloWoman, EEG, shoegirl01, LeiaB, LilethFaire, rangergirl1234, samsarahi, FairTaxGirl, Barb4psu, fairytaleprincess, margaret fowler, rangersluvin, forever babe and kjen.

Special thanks and a little wink in this chapter to Tracy! Enjoy Lester, Babe! LOL.

To Isabella, thanks, well…for everything! You're the best, Babe! Xoxos!

SuperBeta Jenny flew over this chapter at the speed of light! Wow, thanks for the quick work and your own personal opinions about the content of this chapter! Love ya!

**SPOV**

Someone was standing on the accelerator of my life, and I wish they'd let up a little bit. Life in the fast lane was only fun for a while; then it got downright exhausting.

We'd returned from Trenton late Sunday night, and Carlos had gone straight to RangeMan to handle a break-in at an account. I'd gone straight to bed. The weekend had really worn me out—not that it took much these days; it seemed I was always tired.

Carlos had been concerned about my lack of energy and insisted that we get an appointment at the obstetrician's office.

On Wednesday, I found myself being weighed in at Dr. Schwartz's.

"Okay, Stephanie, we've got your starting weight." The nurse smiled pleasantly, recording the number into the computer.

_That__ sucker was going to be on a steady increase over the next few months!_

I wondered how hard it was going to be to get the weight back off, and then I looked at my fitness-crazed husband. He flashed me the full watt smile. _Damn, ESP! _He'd enjoy helping me work it off.

The nurse reached to a shelf on her left and handed me a plastic cup. "This is for a urine sample to confirm the pregnancy. The bathroom's around the corner."

_And the thrills just keep on coming!_ I mentally groaned.

"I'll wait for you in the exam room, Babe," Carlos said, as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, placing a kiss to my forehead, before being led away by the nurse.

When I finished my business and opened the door, the smiling nurse was there waiting for me.

"You have a _very_ handsome husband," she commented as we walked down a long, narrow hallway.

I rolled my eyes. Yet another female to fall victim to my husband's good looks. _If she only knew what lay underneath his clothes, she'd be a puddle of drool._

I cheered myself up with the happy thought that I was the only woman who now enjoyed everything that was Carlos Manoso. Hey, I needed something to distract myself from what lay ahead of me in the exam room.

We arrived at the room, to find Carlos patiently waiting in a chair he'd pulled next to the table equipped with the lovely stirrups. _Wonderful._

To make this even more of a party, the nurse handed me a fashionable—_not!—_patient exam gown, instructing me to strip everything off and fasten the gown in the front. Carlos raised his eyebrow. I glared, daring him to find any pleasure in my humiliation.

Carlos was a smart man. He remained silent as I performed a quick strip-tease. While I put on the gown, he neatly folded my clothes and placed them on a second chair that sat along the wall.

I perched myself up on the table and tried to find a position that kept my dignity. I failed. The paper on the table rustled noisy, especially when I began to fidget.

The nurse came back in and efficiently recorded my temperature and blood pressure readings. She commented that my blood pressure was slightly elevated.

_No shit..._ My husband wanted to discuss rough sex with the doctor, and hello, stirrups!_ Who sees those things and __doesn't__ have their blood pressure rise?_

The wait after the nurse left felt like forever—or maybe I was just impatient to have this all over with. Carlos rubbed my back soothingly. The action offered _some_ comfort.

Dr. Schwartz knocked softly on the door, before opening it and stepping inside. Her head was down, reviewing my chart as she walked.

"Hello, Stephanie. It appears congratulations are in order. You're about eight weeks pregnant. That was quick work," she said, walking over to the sink to wash her hands.

"Yeah, thanks. What can I say? My husband is _really _strong."

"Babe..." Carlos drawled out, and I knew he was fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

Dr. Schwartz whipped around at the sound of his voice, clearly not realizing he had joined me for this visit, and promptly dropped the gloves she'd been holding in her hand.

"Oh, my," she said, pressing a hand to her chest. "Oh, my," she said again, after she'd taken a good look at Carlos. "You startled me. I didn't know Stephanie had brought her husband to this appointment."

_Startled by his __looks, as__ much as his presence. _I kept that thought to myself. You'd think, after all this time, I'd be used to the reaction women had to my husband.

Who was I kidding? Hell, he still caused the same reaction with me, and I'd known him for nearly seven years now! Batman's appeal never grew old.

Carlos stood and offered his hand to the doctor. "Carlos Manoso," he said pleasantly.

The doctor smiled and accepted his hand. "Marlene Schwartz. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Carlos nodded and returned to his seat. Dr. Schwartz grabbed another pair of gloves, and took a seat on the rolling stool while she pulled them on.

"How are you feeling, Stephanie?" she asked, as she slid the stirrups out and arranged her tools on the small table to her left.

"Good, for the most part. A few bouts of sickness here and there."

"She's very tired, more than usual, and she's sick at least once a day," Carlos volunteered.

I rolled my eyes.

"Go ahead and lie back," Dr. Schwartz told me. "I'm afraid that's all part of the process: tiredness, moodiness, heart-burn and sickness. If it gets too severe, we can use meds to treat it, but I only like to do that as a last resort."

Dr. Schwartz pulled open my gown to begin her examination. I closed my eyes and prayed for this to be over quickly. I flinched when she pressed on my left breast.

"Sore?" she questioned, lightening her touch.

"Yes," both Carlos and I answered at the same time. _Where was the normally quiet observer I knew my husband to be?_

"Again, that's to be expected. It'll get a little better in the second trimester," Dr. Schwartz said, smiling at us.

She began pressing around on my stomach. "Any soreness here?"

I shook my head. "Can we hear the baby's heartbeat today?"

"Only if we did an ultrasound, which I normally don't order this early. At your next visit, we should be able to pick the baby up on the Doppler."

Dr. Schwartz drew my gown closed, and then returned to her seat, flipping on a light that shined over her shoulder, and positioned my feet into the stirrups. "You'll feel a little pressure," she advised, as I felt the metal of the instrument inserted into my vagina. _Little was doctor's slang for alot!_

Carlos squeezed my hand as the doctor worked quickly with that part of the exam. Thankfully, she was a fast worker, and soon, she was stripping her gloves off and telling me I could sit up.

"Okay, it looks like everything is in order. We'll be scheduling you a series of visits and tests, giving you some literature on pregnancy, and a list of hospitals where I have privileges for you to choose from, before you leave today. Are there any questions I can answer before I send the nurse back in?"

_Oh dear God, here we go!_

"Yes, we have questions. We were wondering what sort of restrictions Stephanie will have."

"That's a good question, Carlos, and the literature will address some things, but mainly, it's the things you hear most. No alcohol, limited caffeine intake, mild to moderate exercise, with no heavy lifting," Dr. Schwartz informed us, waiting patiently for our next question.

"And what about sexual activity?" Carlos asked without preamble, and I instantly felt my face flame with embarrassment, before I buried it in my hands.

Dr. Schwartz gave a little laugh at my uncomfortableness, and then reached over to pat my leg. "Don't feel bad, Stephanie. It's a common question, especially with the men. Having sex is perfectly acceptable, and in fact, some women find their sex drive increases while they're pregnant," the doctor stated matter of factly.

"That's the case with Stephanie," Carlos told her.

I prayed for a hole to crawl into.

He continued, "Is there anything sexually we shouldn't do at this phase?"

Dr. Schwartz thought for a moment, and being the impatient person I was, adding to the embarrassment I was feeling, I blurted out, "What he means is rough sex. Is that out?"

As soon as the words were out, I threw my hand over my mouth in an effort to erase them. I frantically looked around the room for that damn hole.

"Oh, well, um," Dr. Schwartz stuttered, before she took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Normal activity is fine and won't harm the baby. Just use your best judgment. Of course, if something causes pain or distress, you should stop immediately." She looked at both of us with an anxious expression; I could only imagine the thoughts and visions that were running through her head right now.

I decided to go to my happy place, otherwise known as Denial Land. Carlos asked a couple of more questions, mainly centered around nutrition, before Dr. Schwartz congratulated us both again and left the room.

We were given the literature she'd mentioned and several pieces of paper—one of which confirmed our due date to be around the twentieth of February. I was scheduled for my next appointment and a series of different tests. It appeared getting stuck with needles was a very big part of the pregnancy process as well. _Argh_.

We left the office hand in hand. My deep sigh of relief didn't go unnoticed by Carlos.

He gave me that 'almost' smile and said, "See, that wasn't so bad."

I rolled my eyes. _Men, they'd never understand._

The rest of the week flew by. I was busy planning the reception for Raphael and Isabella, and Carlos worked eighteen or more hour days at RangeMan. The combination of the weekend away in Trenton and Raphael out for his honeymoon had buried him in work at the office.

I'd used a belated birthday gift for Carlos as an excuse to get everyone together on the Manoso side, and a surprise party for Isabella with her side. If anyone was suspicious, they didn't let on to me.

Saturday morning of the reception was greeted by me rushing for the bathroom. I barely made it in time. Carlos hadn't gotten in until nearly three A.M, so he'd been sound asleep when I'd bounded out of the bed like the hounds of hell were chasing me.

I was sexily draped over the toilet, puking my guts out, when he walked in. The sight must have had his manly parts looking for a hiding place. I wasn't at my most attractive. Undeterred, though, Carlos quickly moistened a face cloth and brought it to me, holding my hair out of the way as the last of the nausea passed.

"Okay?" he asked quietly, rubbing smoothing circles on my back.

When I nodded my head, Carlos helped me to a standing position. I cuddled into his embrace.

"Babe, I love the idea of a baby, but I hate seeing you suffer."

"I feel the same way. Let's just hope it passes and I'm not sick like this the entire pregnancy."

Carlos pressed a kiss to the top of my head and guided me back to the bedroom. "You want to lie down for a while?"

"No. Now that I'm up, I want to stay up. Plus, I've got too much to do."

"What do need help with?"

"Carlos, shouldn't you get some more sleep? You couldn't have had more than a couple of hours."

"I'm fine," he said, as he led us out to the balcony of our bedroom. We were greeted with brilliant sunlight and the heaviness of humidity.

_Great. _Looked like another scorcher in Miami. So much for hoping for a 'good hair day.'

We sat down together on the couch, facing the water. Carlos pulled my feet up into his lap and began a gentle massage to the arch of my left foot. The man had magic fingers. My eyes drifted closed as I felt the tension from being sick leave my body.

Carlos' voice was quiet, when he finally spoke a few minutes later. "With all the extra work hours this week, I haven't had any time to help you with the reception. I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. The club we're using pretty much handled most of it for me," I told him softly, being so relaxed, it was an effort to even talk at all.

"Still, it's been a big job. When Raphael gets back, we're going to have to talk about hiring some more help, mainly on the management side."

"Yeah, I don't think Isabella would be too happy putting up with the hours Raphael's been keeping the last couple years."

Having completed the massage to my feet, Carlos pulled me onto his lap, tracing random patterns on my stomach, and then I felt his shoulders shrug. "I don't know. She runs her own business. She knows about long hours."

"Wonder what she's going to do about the club in Vegas? Think she'll sell it, or commute?"

Carlos hand stilled, and his voice was teasing when he asked, "Do you think I'd let you commute cross country every week?"

"If it was important to me, I think you would." _Okay, that _might_ be a lie._

"The answer to my question was 'No.' Babe, there's no way I'd let you do that, especially if we were newly married."

"Oh, yeah?" I huffed out, not liking the 'high-handed' way he was thinking, even if we were talking about a hypothetical topic.

"Stephanie," Carlos said cautiously, his dark, intelligent eyes searching my face and trying to decide the best way to proceed. "I'm sure Raphael and Isabella will work the situation out, the same as we would if something like that came up between us. Let's not start an argument, okay?"

Since the start of this pregnancy, my emotions had been all over the place. Part of me wanted to have a knock-down-drag-out fight with my husband, and another part wanted to cry. I was so confused about what I was feeling. I was sure even the usually calm and confident 'Ranger' was having a hard time figuring me out, too.

"No, you're right; I don't want to start an argument. I'm sorry for my quick temper lately."

"Babe, your body's going through a lot of changes right now. It's okay," Carlos soothed, giving me a tight squeeze of reassurance. "You ready to try breakfast?"

"Yep. I'm really hungry! A big breakfast sounds wonderful!" I said enthusiastically, envisioning eggs, bacon, toast…

"Let's start with some steel-cut oats first. Bacon didn't set so well last time, remember?"

"Damn ESP," I mumbled, as we made our way to the kitchen. The bacon scene _had_ been ugly. I shivered at the memory. Yuck!

A few minutes later, I pushed the half eaten bowl of oatmeal away and declared, "I'm done! I can't believe I'm eating and halfway enjoying that stuff." I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

Carlos laughed softly. "My child is having a positive effect on your tastes."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a matter of opinion, _Daddy_. This baby's half mine, too. Sooner or later, she's going to come around to my way of eating. Look out then, donuts!"

"She?" Carlos quirked his eyebrow.

"This week, I'm calling our baby a she; next week will be a he. Keeps it even that way," I explained my perfectly reasonable, to me, rational.

"Let's hope by the time delivery comes, you're on the right sex."

"You seriously don't want to find out what we're having in advance?" I questioned him again.

We'd had an animated discussion on the topic during our drive back from the doctor's office. It was one of the questions asked on the paperwork we had to fill and return at the next visit.

I grudgingly agreed to go along with his wish of not finding out, even though the curiosity was probably going to kill me. It did surprise me; honestly, because Carlos was such a planner, I'd thought for sure he'd want to know the sex of our child as soon as possible.

"No, I don't. It'll be loved no matter what."

"Well, this way, I'll have something to look forward to during the _labor_ part," I groaned, and chewed on my lip nervously. I'd heard horror stories, from numerous people, about painful birth experiences.

"Please don't worry about that. I'll be with you every step of the way." Carlos leaned over, gave me a kiss, and picked up my bowl from the table.

Time to change the subject. I didn't want to spend any more time thinking about how a baby was going to come out of that tiny opening. I mean, Carlos was _very_ well endowed, and it was a stretch when he entered my body. A baby's head was a _lot_ bigger! I shivered.

"So…I think I did a good job of distracting Tank and Susan at the reception last weekend, don't you?"

Carlos turned back to me wearing a skeptical expression. "You think they, particularly Tank, bought your creative story?"

"You don't think they did?" I asked with surprise.

Carlos laughed. "Not for a minute, Babe."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared at him.

"Don't be mad at me. I'm just saying. Susan's a doctor, and Tank's been well trained by the Army to interpret people. He wasn't fooled."

"Seriously?"

He nodded his head. "Sorry, Steph."

"Well, damn, you don't think they'll say anything to anyone, do you?"

"Tank? Not hardly. I doubt Susan would, either. The secret's still safe."

"Whew!" I breathed out. "Can you imagine the wrath I'd face if my mother found out through the 'Burg grapevine that I was pregnant? It would make all those incidents while I was a bounty hunter look like child's play!"

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good, but I don't think we have to worry about it getting out until we're ready."

Hearing my cell phone ring, I went to get it from my purse. There was an issue at the club with the set-up, and they asked if I could come down as soon as possible to get it straightened out.

We went upstairs to get dressed. I had a couple of errands to run before the reception, and Carlos was going to meet his family at the airport. We'd planned to have everyone in place when Raphael and Isabella arrived around two.

Carlos and I shared a passionate kiss against the Lamborghini that had me wanting to rip his clothes off of him right then and there.

These dang pregnancy hormones were worse than my hereditary Hungarian ones. Basically, all I really wanted to do was sleep and have sex, with a meal thrown in every once in a while, when I wasn't nauseous.

Carlos flashed me a sexy, knowing smile, tucked a curl behind my ear, and whispered, "Later, Babe," before heading out the door to the Hummer he'd brought home from RangeMan last night.

I jumped into the Lamborghini and stifled a groan when the powerful engine roared to life. I didn't know if I was going to be able to wait until we got home later tonight for a Carlos-induced orgasm. _Maybe I could drag him off to a closet somewhere at the reception?_

With a big smile on my face, I drove towards the club, mentally adding 'find secluded closet' to my list of things to do when I got there.

**RPOV**

The RangeMan plane was on final approach when I arrived at the airport. Jim taxied to a stop outside of the hanger twenty minutes later.

Members of my family began pouring out, as soon as the stairs were lowered. My parents came out first, followed by all of my siblings and their children, and bringing up the rear was Lester, with his arm draped casually around a slender brunette. Looking closely, I realized it was his date from Brown's wedding. As they approached, I tried to remember the last time I'd seen him with the same woman twice. _Had it ever happened?_

"Yo!" Lester greeted, when they were within speaking distance. "You remember Tracy, right?" he asked, looking at me, and then turned to her and said, "My cousin, Carlos."

"Welcome to Miami, Tracy. Have you been here before?" I asked as we exchanged a handshake.

"No, actually, I haven't traveled much. I was really surprised when Les asked me to come," she said softly, a blush tainting the pale skin of her cheeks.

_You're not the only one surprised,_ I thought to myself, trying to figure out how this apparently shy woman had managed to snag more than one date from Lester, not to mention an overnight trip to Miami with his family. Shit, maybe marriage was contagious.

Before I could give any more time to that subject, Mama walked up and wrapped me in an embrace. "Carlos, it's so good to see you. We missed you when you were in Trenton."

Pressing a kiss to her cheek, I apologized, "Sorry, Mama, it was a quick trip."

"Where's your brother? I haven't heard from him in nearly two weeks! Why isn't he here?"

_Fuck, how was it that I always ended up in these situations regarding my brother?_

"He had something important come up." _Like his marriage and honeymoon. _"You'll see him at lunch," I carefully answered.

My mother stilled and looked at me closely. I'd been stared down by terrorists, criminals of every variety, and powerful people with deadly tendencies during the course of my life, but nothing compared to the knowing eyes of Mama.

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso, what are you hiding?"

I straightened my stance and made an effort to slam the blank face down for a denial, when I heard my father laugh.

"Give it up, son. Just come clean. It's easier that way," he advised, thumping me sympathetically on the back.

_So much for the unwritten rule of the men of this family sticking together._

"Mama, Raphael _will_ be at lunch," I reiterated.

Mama shook her head in dismissal. "I wasn't referring to your brother."

_What the fuck?_

Luckily, my sisters joined us and broke up our 'discussion.' Checking my watch, I realized we needed to get down to the club. Stephanie had planned for us all to have lunch together in an effort to make it seem like we were celebrating my birthday. Isabella's family would be in the same dining room as well.

My wife could be very sneaky when she put her mind to it, as I'd witnessed first-hand many times, thinking back to some of her more unusual bounty-hunting captures and distraction jobs.

Stephanie was waiting for us when we arrived. After rounds of hugs and kisses, Mama gave Stephanie a similar stare down, silently nodded her head at me, and then took a seat at one of the tables.

"What was that all about?" Stephanie whispered.

"She thinks we're hiding something."

"Not her, too!" she exclaimed. "Are we wearing a blinking sign that everyone but us can see?"

"Mama's always had good instincts," I said dismissively, not wanting to think how transparent we both apparently were about our little secret. "Is everything ready?"

"Yeah, salads are being served now. In fact, we've got a couple of minutes. Can you help me with something down the hall here?"

"Sure, Babe, lead the way."

Stephanie's eyes darkened, and she gave me a sly, sexy smile that had my cock sounding reveille as it sprang to life. _What was my wife up to?_

We walked hand in hand down a long, deserted hallway. Stephanie checked over her shoulder and around the corner, before opening a closed door, and then hurriedly pulled me inside with her. The room was small. It appeared to be a storage room for extra tables and chairs.

"Stephanie, if you need extra tables, I'm sure one of the staff will help with that."

"I don't need extra tables or any of the staff; you're the _only_ one who can do this job."

Her hands went to the buckle of my belt with deft fingers. My eyebrow shot up in intrigue.

"Babe."

"Yes," she purred, running her right hand inside my pants to find a very-happy-to-feel-her cock.

Stephanie backed us up several steps, until I felt a chair directly behind me. When she gave me a little shove, I allowed her to push me into a sitting position. She quickly went to her knees between my wide spread legs.

"Don't you think they're going to miss us?" I asked, biting back a groan as she pumped up and down my length several times with her hand.

"They have food to distract them. I want you for an appetizer."

Before I could say any more, Stephanie sealed her lips around me, taking the entire length of my cock into her mouth. I could feel the softness at the back of her throat. _Fuck!_ Using her teeth, she dragged them all the way up, until she hit the head of my cock, and then with her tongue, she twirled the entire circumference. _Damn! I loved it when she did that!_

Stephanie stayed with this pattern for several long, pleasurable moments. My cock vibrated in anticipation of each movement.

_Wait a __minute..._ The vibration wasn't only coming from my body; it was also coming from my belt. _My cell phone_. Choosing to ignore it, I watched my wife with hooded eyes as she worked my cock with her fucking hot mouth. I couldn't stop myself from rotating my hips and driving deeper into her softness. She purred, the vibration of it caused me to thrust up again.

She broke suction and stood, lifting her skirt, and then drawing her panties to one side. I reached between her legs to find her moist and ready. _Oh, hell, yeah!_ I couldn't resist stroking inside her a few times, before she straddled my lap and positioned herself directly above my cock. She held it straight up as she lowered herself on to me.

We both groaned while she slowly slid all the way to the base, sitting there for just a moment, before repeating the process.

"Damn, Babe," I grunted into her neck as her inner walls tightened around me. "That was quick, even for you."

Continuing to ride me, she panted, "I've been worked up ever since you kissed me good-bye earlier. Having you like this was all I could think of!"

"Glad to be of service." That wasn't a lie. Stephanie pregnant was every man's dream. She seemed to be in constant arousal, and I was the lucky recipient of her need. Life was good!

I reached down to circle her clit with one hand, while the other pulled a breast free from her low cut dress. I sucked the nipple into my mouth immediately. Stephanie's hands gripped either side of my head hard, effectively holding me in place. I wasn't going anywhere.

The vibration of the cell phone began again. Stephanie ground to a halt. "What's that? Do you have a vibrator from the black box with you? If so, hand it over!"

Her insistence caused me to smile. Stephanie had a deep affection for her fingertip vibrator. If I was an insecure man, I'd be worried about being replaced. That wasn't going to happen, though, because she held an even greater appreciation for what I could do to her with my body—especially my cock.

To drive that point home, in more ways than one, I gripped her hips and began thrusting up into her with quick, deep strokes.

"It's my phone. Ignore it," I told her as she bowed herself back, placing her hands on my knees.

I spread her legs wider, scooted up to the edge of the chair, and drove deeper. It didn't take long for both of us to reach our completion, absorbing the cries of pleasure into each other's mouths with a kiss that lasted as long the climatic ride.

Stephanie lay, breathing heavily, on my shoulder, while I hugged her tightly to my body. We were still for a time, and then the vibration began again.

"Dammit!" I cursed softly. "This had better be important."

Ripping the phone free of its holder, I checked the display. _Raphael._

"Yo," I barked into the phone.

"Where the fuck are you?" he demanded.

Not willing to give up our location, I instead answered with a question of my own. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you and Stephanie. And Mama's dogging my ass about what you two are hiding. Get out here!"

"I thought with just getting back from your honeymoon, you'd be in a better mood," I teased, as Stephanie separated herself from me and began straightening her clothes.

"That's what I need to talk to you about," he said sadly.

"Raphael, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Could you just meet me in the lobby?"

"All right. Calm down. We're on our way," I told him, disconnecting from the call, before tucking myself back into my pants and refastening my belt.

We hurried out of the room and down the hall, with Stephanie asking curiously about the call. I told her Raphael had sounded upset, and I had no idea why.

When we got to the lobby, we found him pacing back and forth.

"We're here. What's going on?" I wasted no time asking.

Stephanie searched the small space with urgent eyes, and before Raphael could respond, she asked, "Where's Isabella?"

Raphael hung his head. "That's what I want to talk to you about." He paused, looked at both of us with a sad expression, and said, "It, uh, damn." He blew out a long breath. "It didn't work out," he finished quickly.

Stephanie's hands went to her hips as she stared my brother down. "_What_ didn't work out?"

"The marriage. The honeymoon. Us. It's over," he said dejectedly.

"It's what!" Stephanie exclaimed, reaching into her purse for her cell phone.

"Don't call her," Raphael insisted. "I already feel bad enough."

"_What did you do_?" Stephanie asked, jamming her finger into the center of Raphael's chest.

"Why do you think _I_ did something? Maybe it was her," Raphael stated smugly, crossing his arms over his chest and knocking Stephanie's finger out of the way.

I began to smell something that smelled surprisingly like bullshit, but Stephanie hadn't caught the odor yet. They were locked in a stare-down. Raphael glared at Stephanie, and Stephanie fumed at him, tapping her foot in impatience. From the corner of my eye, I saw Isabella emerge from the restroom a few seconds before Stephanie did.

Stephanie rushed to her side. "You're here. Thank God! What the hell did he do to you?"

"Who?" Isabella asked, wearing a mask of confusion as she returned Stephanie's hug.

"Raphael, of course!" Stephanie said in frustration.

Isabella's face creased into a huge smile, and her cheeks colored slightly. "Geez, Steph, he did a lot of _things_ to me, but I didn't think you'd want to hear all the details." Then she dropped her voice to barely a whisper, though I could still hear. "At least, not right now,"—her eyes tracked to Raphael and me—"in front of _them._"

Stephanie took a moment to look at Isabella, apparently noticing for the first time the simple, floor-length white wedding gown that Isabella wore and the small bouquet of flowers she held in her hand.

"You're still renewing your vows? You two aren't breaking up?"

Stephanie's puzzled expression caused Isabella's eyes to flash with understanding. "Raphael Manoso! I told you not to do that to them! You are in such big trouble when we get home," she scolded my brother, and instead of appearing to get mad, his face broke into a huge, shit-eating smile.

"Are you going to spank me?" he asked with interest.

Isabella rolled her eyes and pinched him hard in the ribs. Raphael pulled her into his side, and then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on? I'm so confused!" Stephanie blew out a harsh breath in frustration.

"Raphael thought it would be fitting 'payback' to let you think we'd broken up, after you'd went to all this trouble of planning our reception, and let you worry about what you were going to tell the guests. Of course, I told him that was just mean, but he didn't listen," Isabella finished the explanation.

"It was mean," Stephanie said. "But at least it didn't last long, and I don't have to worry about what he's going to do to us anymore."

"Oh, this doesn't count," Raphael told Stephanie. "Isabella blew it too quickly. I didn't enjoy that near enough. I'm going to have to do something else."

"Raphael," Isabella warned.

"Three years, Isabella. Three_ long_ years, they didn't tell me," Raphael stated.

"What about her?" Stephanie demanded. "I tried to get her to let me tell you. So did Carlos!"

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus, _sister_," Isabella murmured to Stephanie.

Raphael stepped forward to tweak Stephanie's cheek, which she batted away quickly, and then he leaned forward to tell her, "Don't worry, my lovely wife has already paid for her part in the deception."

We all watched Isabella do a whole body shiver. I, for one, didn't want to know what he'd done to her as payback. We were all standing there contemplating each other, when my mother and father joined our little party.

"Isabella?" Mama gasped, and then she noticed her gown and the flowers, and her dark, piercing eyes turned to my brother. "Raphael Roberto Manoso, is that a wedding ring on your finger?"

My father's earlier words to me were returned to Raphael. "Just come clean, son. It's easier that way." _Papa, the fountain of wisdom._

"Mama," Raphael began, pulling out his best smile. "Isabella became my wife two weeks ago in Las Vegas. We just got back today from our honeymoon."

Instantly, my mother's hand reached out and thumped Raphael on the back of the head. I bit back a laugh. Raphael shot me a look of warning, that I ignored, and instead smiled boardly.

"How could you run off and get married without your family?" our mother shouted in a rare display of temper.

Her voice must have carried into the dining room, because several people, including members of Isabella's family, came charging out into the lobby. Chaos ensued. Reaching for Stephanie, I pulled us back a few feet against the far wall to protect her from the thick of the crowd that were talking loudly in a mix of Spanish and English while waving their hands around wildly.

Raphael and Isabella tried desperately to explain what had happened and tell everyone that they were going to renew their vows today so that they could all be with them. Mama was not pacified. She told Raphael that he was the eldest and the last of her children to get married. She was hurt that she'd only get to witness a 'pseudo' ceremony.

Raphael ran his hand through his hair in frustration. I knew he felt bad about hurting Mama's feelings, but when his gaze landed on me, I didn't like the look it held.

"Raphael, don't!" I warned.

Either he didn't hear or he was too desperate to take the heat off himself and Isabella, because in the next breath, he blurted out, "I know what Carlos and Stephanie are hiding!"

**TBC**

Author's notes: Raphael and his big mouth! LOL. Hey, the plot-players picked him as the one to spill the beans or, in this case, the baby, ….but will he? Stay tuned to see!

Owww, I think injured my wrist during my stint in the closet with Ranger. Next time I've gotta pick a space with more room, though he is very creative in 'tight' places. ;) I'm going to be lonely this week without him, but I think he's going to be busy…beating the crap out of Raphael! Maybe I can treat his injured hands later, and make him feel better.

Hope you enjoyed this installment of Baby Wishes. Please drop a review. Thanks so much! Have a great week! See ya next Wednesday, ~Angie


	13. The Secret's Out

**Chapter 13-The Secret's Out**

Disclaimer: Sooo, since JE owns these characters, I'm going to go Easter egg hunting at her house. Maybe, I'll find the key fob for seven in one of those plastic eggs, the black one, of course! Oh, I also don't own Nickelback, Carlos Santana or Chad Kroeger.

Author's notes: This chapter contains one of the birthday present ideas from a previous plot question. Thanks so much to concetta33. She's going to fulfill one of my 'visions' of Ranger….You'll understand what it is soon! LOL!

Oh, and by the way, I managed to use _all_ three of multiple choices for how everyone finds out Ranger and Stephanie are pregnant. So everyone gets a 100% score on that test! Good Job, Babes!

Well, the plot-players were pretty evenly divided on this week's question. I received several good stories and ideas which helped me decide how it's going to play out, based on your inputs. As always, thanks to my beloved plot-players: Barb4psu, Milenab, ty93, financebabe, PrilC, FairTaxGirl, LilethFaire, shoegirl01, rangergirl1234, samsarahi, EEG, Rangemansbabe, Ryl, AmandaBabe, BabeCakeLvr, BuffaloWoman, wantotwrite and forever babe.

I'd like to thank Mari and Jennifer for their respective pep talks this week! I needed them, babes!

To Isabella, my Writer's Block Buster! Love ya, Babe!

The critical eyes and talented mind of SuperBeta Jenny performed their magic on this chapter. Thanks so very much!

**RPOV**

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! _

Isabella was going to be a widow soon; I was going to kill my brother!

Turning first to look at my wife, I found her mouth hanging open and her eyes bugging out of her head. _Not a good sign._

This was definitely not how we'd planned to tell the family, but at the moment, I couldn't think of another fucking thing to say to throw them off the subject. It appeared the Queen of Distraction wasn't coming up with anything, either, judging from the look on her face.

"Babe?" I whispered.

If she wasn't ready to tell everyone, I'd think of something. Maybe I'd just knock Raphael unconscious, or break his jaw; either would be a fairly good distraction and sounded like brilliant ideas to me at the moment.

The stillness of the lobby was almost deafening, especially after the loud chaos that had filled the last few minutes. All eyes were turned to us. No one moved or said anything, until the tension of it got to my wife and she blurted out, "I'm pregnant!"

There was another beat of absolute silence, before Mama said, with tears hinting at the corners of her eyes, "Of course you are, my dear." Mama stepped up to Stephanie and pulled her into an embrace. Each of them promptly burst into tears of happiness.

Chaos erupted again, though this time it was centered around us as I watched Raphael drag Isabella to the far corner of the room. _The bastard. He'd pay!_

Julie practically tackled me to the floor. She'd obviously been spending too much time with her football-crazed boyfriend.

"Dad! Really? I'm going to be a big sister! That's sooo cool!"

"Yes, carina, it's true. This isn't how we wanted to tell you, though."

"Why not? It's awesome!" she exclaimed. "I found out I've got a new aunt _and_ I'm going to be a sister. I've got to go text Galvin!" Julie gave me another tight squeeze, and then planted a loud kiss on my cheek, before wedging herself between my mother and Stephanie to do the same to her. She was off like a bullet after that.

"Congratulations, Carlos," Mama whispered, placing her hands in mine. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Mama. We had planned on waiting a little longer to tell everyone." I sent a deadly glare in my brother's direction—not that he saw me; he was in a lip-lock with his bride.

Mama laughed softly. "Leave your brother alone. You weren't going to be able to keep the pregnancy a secret for long anyway." Mama looked up at me, her eyes softening. "Though you look tired, the happiness is written all over your face."

_Note to self: practice blank __expression. It__ was weakening!_ I hated weakness.

"Don't worry, Carlos, you still look like a tough guy to everyone else. A mother just knows these things." Mama rubbed my arm soothingly, before looking over at Raphael and Isabella.

They were holding each other close, smiles on both of their faces as they talked quietly. Mama breathed out a sigh of relief. "Praise God, he's finally married, even if I wasn't there. I've been worried about his loco life!" She paused for a moment and just watched them together, before she stated with firm conviction, "Isabella's good for him. I always liked her and was saddened when they broke up."

My brother did look happy, and I agreed with Mama, but I was still going to kick his ass into next week for opening his big mouth!

The minister announced that he was ready to begin the ceremony, and everyone began to move back into the dining room.

Papa stepped up to us, patted me on the back with a smile, and a whispered, "Congratulations, son," before escorting Mama towards the small stage situated on the back wall.

I offered my arm to Stephanie. She slid her hand into the crook and laid her head against my shoulder.

"I'm sorry Raphael forced our hand," I told her as we walked slowly.

Stephanie laughed. "I'm the one that blurted it out. I should apologize to you. Apparently, pregnancy has disabled the filter between my brain and my mouth. I've been blurting things out a lot."

Thinking back to the doctor's visit, I couldn't help but smile. She'd been so embarrassed. I didn't find the question to be out of line at all. We needed to know our boundaries and didn't want to harm the baby. I actually would have liked a more defined list of dos and don'ts, but I didn't want to embarrass Stephanie further, so I just decided to do some research on the computer independently.

The ceremony began, and when the minister spoke about the importance of family, Stephanie sucked in a breath.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "We're going to have to tell my parents right away, before it gets back to them! What are we going to do?" Her face drew up in concentration.

"I have an idea, Babe," I told her softly. "It worked for when we told them we were getting married; it should work again."

"Huh?"

I placed a soft kiss on her lips, and then smoothed the crinkle out of her eyebrow with my thumb. "I'll tell you later."

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and pressed closer to me as we watched Raphael and Isabella renew their vows.

The afternoon progressed in a usual wedding mode. The cake was cut, I made a civilized, and appropriate, toast to the couple, and then the band began to play. Stephanie had invited several friends outside of the family to join the party after the ceremony, including members of Raphael's band. They played a set together, and I joined them on the last two more traditional Cuban songs, playing the bongo drums.

When the set was done, Raphael and I went to join our wives and Julie back at the table. Raphael pulled Isabella into his lap, and then looked over at me.

"I almost forgot to tell you about your birthday present!" Raphael's face creased into a smile. "I've been a little distracted," he said as he nuzzled into Isabella's neck.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, and Isabella laughed.

"Anyway." Raphael seemed to remember that we were all sitting here watching him. "It's really cool. So you know my friend, Razor... Well, he knows this guy who plays part-time for Carlos Santana. Carlos is scheduled to have a big charity event here in Miami in a couple months. I got us all tickets."

"Thanks, Raphael. That sounds like a nice evening. I've always enjoyed his music," I said sincerely.

"Oh, that's not all," Raphael spoke excitedly. "We're going to get to play with them for a couple of songs!"

"With Carlos Santana?"

Raphael nodded his head, and then looked at Stephanie. "And guess who else is going to be there?"

Stephanie's eyes widened. "If it's Chad Kroeger, I _might_ just forgive you about earlier!"

"Yep, Chad's going to be there."

"Oh. My. God! Chad Kroeger!" Stephanie jumped up from her seat, clearly star-struck. I'd never seen her like this before. She and Julie began dancing around, and Julie squealed when Raphael told her he had tickets for her, too.

Isabella watched them, confusion masking her face. "Who the heck is Chad Kroeger?"

"Lead singer of Nickelback, baby," Raphael told her.

"Well, that explains it. Stephanie's crazy about that band. I'll be more interested in seeing Santana," Isabella observed. "And of course, watching you guys play with him. What a thrill!"

"Yeah," I agreed. Raphael was really good at thinking up great and unusual gifts; I'd have to give him that.

As if on cue, the DJ played the Nickelback song, _Never Gonna Be Alone. _Stephanie had told me once that the song reminded her of our early relationship, and she'd dubbed it 'our song.' Her eyes met mine as soon as she noticed the music. I rose from my seat and led her to the dance floor.

We stepped into each other and began to slowly move together. Holding her in my arms was one of the greatest comforts in my life. I could only imagine what it was going to feel like to hold our child. I tightened my grip on Stephanie.

She tipped her head up, and I was greeted with her smoky, blue eyes that told me what she was thinking about. "Think we can leave soon?" she purred, pressing herself against my thigh as we turned the corner of the dance floor.

"Babe." _Dios, I _loved_ her pregnant. She was horny as hell!_

"I can't help it!" she whined. "I'm on hormone overload here!"

Her hands found their way under the jacket of my suit coat, and she traced an outline around my nipple with her fingernail. It tightened, and my cock pulsed simultaneously.

"Fuck," I hissed out between clenched teeth.

"Sounds good to me! Like, right away?" Stephanie teased, pinching my nipple soundly.

"Behave," I warned. "We still have to take Julie home."

The rest of the family was staying on a large estate we'd rented for the weekend for them. It was easier having everyone in one location. Plus, we all kept our privacy that way. We were going to need the privacy tonight. Stephanie was wound too tight to be quiet.

"I don't know if I can wait that long. There's a storage room right down the hall," she said hopefully.

_Been there, done that_, and while it was very pleasurable, I wanted a little more room to work with this time. A plan was already forming in my mind.

The song ended, but we stayed locked together in an embrace. Her finger went to work on my other nipple.

"Am I going to have to tie you up?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She knew I'd do it.

It was Stephanie's turn to hiss out a breath. "Oh, God, don't say things like that. I'm barely controlling myself as it is!"

"Let's find Julie and say our good-byes."

"Sounds like an excellent plan to me, Batman!"

It didn't take us long to find Julie or say our good-byes. We were sufficiently motivated to get going. The only people we couldn't find were the bride and groom. No one had seen them. As we walked into the lobby, we found them groping each other in the hallway.

"Geez!" Stephanie exclaimed in mock disgust, stepping in front of Julie to block her view.

I gave Stephanie a knowing look. "Pot, meet Kettle," I whispered to her.

Stephanie smiled mischievously and gave me a little nudge with her elbow.

Raphael and Isabella sprang apart.

"Hey, we're leaving. Maybe you guys should, too," Stephanie advised.

"That's probably a good idea," Isabella agreed readily. "Thanks for everything!"

Isabella and Stephanie shared a hug and made plans to meet this week for lunch. After Julie hugged Raphael, I punched him, none too lightly, on the shoulder.

"Oh six hundred at RangeMan gym, Monday morning."

"Ah, bro, that's my first day back."

"You're lucky I'm waiting that long. I might have cooled down some by then. We _didn't_ want to tell the family this soon about the baby." I glared at him, feeling some of the anger returning.

Raphael returned the glare, and I saw anger flash into his eyes, as well. "Three years," he whispered.

_Fuck. We were going to kill each other._

The drive with Julie wasn't quiet; then again, it seldom was when the two ladies of my life were together. They talked about all matter of baby things. Julie seemed very excited and wanted to have an active role in the baby's life. She'd make a great sister.

As soon as we waved good-bye and backed out of Rachel's driveway, Stephanie's hand found its way to my lap. She began stroking my cock through the thin material of my pants. My eyes darted over to her. She leaned closer to look down at where her hand was working me, a smile creasing her face.

Stephanie's fingers went to work on my belt buckle and fastenings of the pants. My cock sprang from free from its restraint. Stephanie found the drops of pre-cum at the tip and smeared them around the head of my cock. She licked her lips in appreciation and started to undo her seat belt, and I knew what she planned to do.

Somehow, I found the strength to stop her. "Babe, stay buckled."

"C'mon, Carlos. You've never let me do this while you're driving."

"Because it isn't safe, Stephanie."

She gave me the pouty lip. It was adorable, but I wasn't budging.

"You're a good driver. It'll be all right."

"There's nothing I'd like better right now than to watch you go down of me, Babe, but I won't risk your safety or the baby's to let that happen."

"Party pooper," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm going to show you a party…as soon as we get home," I promised.

Stephanie's eyes lit up in interest. "Oh, yeah? What are we going to do?"

"Anticipation makes it that much more exciting."

She frowned slightly. "I'm just impatient and horny."

_When wasn't she?_ Damn, I was a lucky SOB.

It had taken every bit of my concentration to stay focused on the road when I caught Stephanie, out of the corner of my eye, removing her panties.

I raised my eyebrow as I glanced over at her.

"What? I'm still wearing my seat belt," she defended. "Just not my panties." Stephanie stuffed the thin scrap of lace into her purse, before returning her attention back to stroking me.

"_Are we there yet?" my cock asked urgently. It was just as impatient as my wife to get inside her._

As soon as I put the car in park and killed the engine in the garage at home, Stephanie lowered her mouth on my cock. I gripped the steering wheel, hard, causing my knuckles to whiten with the effort. She sucked up my entire length, before looking up at me.

"It's safe now, right?"

"Yes, but Babe, wouldn't you rather get in the house first?"

"Can't wait," she breathed against the damp skin of my erection, which caused it to pulse.

I clenched my teeth in an effort to gain some control. Reaching for the seat controls, I moved us as far back from the steering wheel as possible. Stephanie used the extra room to pump her mouth up and down my cock rapidly.

I wasn't a big fan of car sex, especially with the limited working space, but I was adaptable, and apparently, my wife was in a huge hurry. I let my right hand travel slowly up Stephanie's left leg, pushing the skirt of her dress up as I went, and not stopping until I found her very moist center. I traced the outer lip of her pussy once, before delving inside with two fingers.

Stephanie's cry of pleasure was muffled around my cock. _Sweet fuck, her mouth was going to drive me insane. _She rocked her body back against my hand.

Twisting in the seat to my right changed the position of her mouth and allowed me better access to her naked ass. I licked at a spot for a moment, before sucking the delicate skin into my mouth. I bit down and placed a love-mark to the center of her left cheek. _Carlos was here!_

**SPOV**

_Oww, that was going to leave a mark. _But hell, at this point, I didn't care. He could cover my body in hickies, as long as he took care of _business._ Damn, I was horny beyond belief!

I switched to my hand pumping his cock, to allow my mouth free-roam of his body. Unfortunately, there was limited space. I pushed his shirt up and promptly ripped a button off the expensive material. It hit the windshield with a soft 'ting.'

Carlos' stomach shook slightly as he held in a laugh. I bit down on a rippled muscle of his abdomen and left my own mark. _Take that, Batman!_

My hand smoothed down his long, hard length to the base, where I attempted to pay homage to his balls, but the pants were too binding. They needed to go. I dedicated myself to the effort of freeing Carlos from his clothes.

Amazingly enough, he offered no resistance, and even lifted his hips, as I tugged the pants down all the way to his knees. With his shirt unbuttoned and pushed open to reveal his chiseled chest and his cock standing perpendicular from his body, I didn't think I'd seen a more appealing sight. And I was going to have him, right here in the Lamborghini! Moisture pooled between my legs.

I kicked off my heels and began to crawl across the console. Carlos used the seat controls to lay the seat as flat as it would go. My knee connected with the arm rest, and I bit back a curse, and then my foot got tangled in the steering wheel.

Carlos helped me free it with a smile on his face. "See, this would have been easier in the house."

"Fine, let's go in the house, then!" I impatiently snapped out. All I wanted right now was a good dose of a few Carlos-induced orgasms, and I was beyond caring where I received them.

"Oh no, Babe," Carlos growled, unzipping my dress and pulling it off me in one fluid motion. Of course, he didn't hit his elbow or anything and seemed immune to tight space. "You started it here, we'll finish it here. At least this first time, anyway."

"_Oh yay! This was only round one!"_

Carlos' laughter filled the interior of car. "You're insatiable." He leaned forward and began kissing up my neck. His tongue ran along the shell of my ear, and then he stopped a moment to whisper, "Don't worry, I plan to make love to you until you beg me to stop."

"Guess you're not going to work on Monday," I quipped, and I wasn't completely joking. "Because I won't beg you stop much before then."

"Well, we'll have to stop for a little bit tomorrow to tell your parents about the baby," he reasoned.

"Don't kill the mood here, Batman, or try to distract me," I teased.

"That's not going to happen," he said softly.

Carlos gripped on either side of my hips and lowered me onto his rock hard cock. I groaned and clenched my inner muscles as I slid down his length. Once we were together, Carlos reached around to undo my bra, and then tossed it on the passenger's seat with the dress.

I put my hands on the roof of the car and used them to push down harder as I descended onto Carlos' cock. He toyed with my nipples, pinching them between his fingers in a delicious sort of pain.

We were causing the car to rock with all the motion. I was searching for a better position to put my right foot, when Carlos sat up and pulled my knees up and held them against his chest. The penetration of his cock deepened, and we both moaned.

Carlos' mouth went to work on my breasts, while I could feel him toeing off his shoes and sliding his pants down his legs until he could kick free of them, all without disconnecting our bodies. I leaned back until my back rested against the steering wheel. Carlos twisted around so that he was on his knees in the seat.

"Wow!" I smiled up at him in surprise. "I don't even want to know how you learned to do that."

He shrugged his shoulders, and then wrapped his hands behind me to grab the steering wheel. "I wanted to drive, so I got inspired."

And boy, did he know how to drive!

Carlos was able to use the steering wheel to pull his body deeply into mine. The thrusts were hard and powerful, causing my head to bump lightly on the windshield. I was a tangled mess of desire as one orgasm after another ripped through my body. Carlos didn't let up; he just continued to steadily drive towards his own climax.

When it arrived, he cried out my name, and then collapsed onto my chest in exhausted. The added weight to the center of the steering wheel caused the horn to blare. We were both startled by the sound.

I burst out in hysterical laughter.

It just seemed so funny to me. Maybe it was the small letdown from the overload of horniness I'd been experiencing today, or maybe it was the expression on his face. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop laughing.

Carlos gave up fighting it and started to laugh, too. When we'd finally settled down some, he leaned in to kiss the spot I'd bumped repeatedly against the windshield.

"We're too old to be having sex in cars like teenagers, Babe."

"Speak for yourself, old man. I thought it was pretty hot!"

"I'm only two months older than you."

"Still older," I said in a sing-song voice. I was feeling unusually giddy.

Carlos shook his head in amusement. "Let's get inside. Next round's on the bed." He nipped gently at my shoulder. "I'm going to spread you across it in a big 'X.' Room's not going to be a problem this time."

I shivered, knowing how he planned to keep me in that position. _The Japanese Silk Love Ropes_ that we kept in the black box.

Suddenly, it was as if the multiple orgasms I'd just experienced had never happened. I was on fire for him again. We couldn't get upstairs fast enough for me! I opened the door and reached for my clothes from the passenger's seat, before bounding out of the car.

Carlos laughed softly at my abrupt departure. "No need to hurry," he called out to me. "Your next orgasm is going to cost you."

_Oh, sweet Jesus, _I knew what he meant by that, too. It involved several different toys from the box and me…begging for release.

I turned back to look at him lounging in the car. I'd never be able to sit in that car again and not envision the sight or what had just happened there. He gave me the full watt smile as he stretched lazily. Oh yeah, he knew what I was thinking.

With a sway in my hips, I walked over to the door that separated the garage from the kitchen, threw the door open, and then turned back to him. I stretched my body into an 'X' inside the doorframe, as I ran my tongue seductively around my lips.

His reaction was immediately apparent on his face, as well as a few other places. If I were a cautious person, I'd be scared at the look of pure lust currently displayed on my husband. But then, I'd never been known as a cautious person. Although I did let out a squeal when he sprang from the car with a quickness I'd never possess. I bolted into the house in simulation of a chase.

Who the hell was I kidding? I really wanted him to catch me!

The next morning, I was begging—not to Carlos, but to God—to let this be the last morning I woke up puking.

Actually, I'd begged to Carlos, too, early this morning, but that was for an entirely different reason. I shivered in remembrance of the incredible night we'd shared.

"Are you cold, Babe?" Carlos asked, as he helped me rise from my position on the floor.

I shook my head, but he still crossed the room to get my robe that hung on a hook near the door.

After I finished brushing my teeth, we went downstairs. As much as I would have liked to spend the day in bed with my husband, that wasn't going to happen.

We'd talked about different ways to tell my parents about the pregnancy. We even thought about flying home with Carlos' family to tell them in person. Honestly, though, the last trip had really exhausted me, and Carlos has proposed a plan that was nearly as good as being there in person.

Carlos set up the computer, while I made us a light breakfast. It was oatmeal. _Again_. It seemed to be the only thing that stayed down first thing in the morning. The mere thought of bacon, or God-forbid, a donut, had me wanting to rush for the toilet to throw-up. Dang Bat-sperm! It had turned my body against me!

"Okay, Babe, Tank's coming online here in a minute."

Crossing to stand behind Carlos, I leaned over his shoulder so that the camera would pick up my face. I waited until Tank's face filled the screen.

"Hiya, Big Guy! Whatcha doing?" I greeted happily.

The corner of Tank's mouth curved up slightly. I amused him sometimes. Okay, most of the time. He shifted his position a bit, and we could see that he was holding a sleeping Mikaylla in his arms.

"Sorry," I whispered, hoping I hadn't woken the baby.

Tank's white teeth flashed in bright contrast to his dark skin. "No worries. She sleeps like you, Bomber. Nothing short of an explosion will wake her."

"Ha, ha," I laughed with no emotion.

"We need a favor," Carlos said, drawing an end to Tank's and my teasing.

"Carlos, first we have to tell him the news!"

"Oh yeah, Stephanie's pregnant," Carlos told him in an off-the-cuff sort of way.

I pinched Carlos' bicep hard, and probably hurt my fingers more than him. Damn, he was like a rock. My mind started to drift down a naughty path for a moment, before it was pulled off course by Tank's voice.

"Shit, man, she's viscous!" Tank sympathized with Carlos.

I shot a hostile glare at Tank. He didn't seem threatened by it—probably because I was several hundred miles away from him and couldn't act on the unspoken threat. Hey, that's my story, I'm sticking to it!

Tank laughed, and then looked intently at the computer screen. "Congratulations to both of you."

"You aren't surprised?" I asked. Curiosity was killing me.

Tank shook his head. "Nope. Figured it out at Brown's reception."

I let out a long sigh that had Carlos looking up at me with a smile.

"Anyway, back to the favor." Carlos told Tank about our plan.

He agreed, and about an hour later, we got a text on Carlos' phone that he was in place at the curb on my parent's street, with everything we'd requested.

Carlos called my dad on his cell and asked him to go outside to meet Tank, and then call us when he was back in the house.

Of course, Daddy did all of this without question, just as Carlos had said he would.

When he returned the call, Carlos was able to walk Daddy step-by-step through the process of establishing a video connection on the laptop computer Tank had brought over. We planned to give them the computer as a 'You're going to be grandparents again' gift.

Carlos had Daddy get Mom and my grandma to come sit around the table in the kitchen, directly in front of the computer.

"Isn't this a pip!" Grandma Mazur exclaimed, leaning close to the computer's camera. We got a _really_ good look up her nostril. _Not pretty. _Carlos flinched. "Hey, Hot Stuff, where'd ya go?"

"Grandma, step back from the computer. You're too close!" I advised. _Way too close!_

The picture shifted, and we could see everyone again.

"Oh, there you are!" Grandma said with a big smile as she returned to her seat at the table.

"Stephanie, the picture is so clear. It's like you're right here in the kitchen with us. I can't wait to tell Mrs. Kalinowski about this!"

_Just wait, Mom, there's more news where that came from!_

Carlos squeezed my hand, and then texted Tank. We visited for a few minutes with them, and then the doorbell rang.

"Goodness' sake, who is here this early on a Sunday morning?" Mom asked, to no one in particular.

Grandma jumped up from her seat. "I'll go get it!"

A couple of minutes later, she came back, carrying a large, white, pastry box and wearing a huge grin.

"It was that big, handsome black man that works for Carlos," Grandma purred. "And look! He brought us breakfast, but he told me not to open it yet." Grandma set the box down in front of them on the table.

Carlos' cell phone beeped an incoming text. We looked at the display.

It was from Tank and simply said, _You owe me. Big!_

Carlos hung his head, and I fought back a laugh.

"Go ahead and open it," I told my parents through the computer link.

My mom tore the box lid off and gasped, putting one hand against her heart, while the other grabbed Daddy's hand. When she looked back at the computer, her eyes were filled with tears.

Grandma Mazur leaned forward, peered into the box, and then read aloud, "We're pregnant!"

**TBC**

Author's notes: Well, the secret's definitely out now and should be whirling around the 'Burg at the speed of light post haste! This chapter put me to the test, I hope it didn't disappoint. Please review, it's even better than those Reese Peanut Butter Eggs or Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Bunnies. YUM!

Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate it! To those that don't, have a wonderful weekend and we'll see all of you next Wednesday! Who's going with me to JE's house to look for a black egg? :) ~Angie


	14. Surprises

**Chapter 14-Surprises**

Disclaimer: JE owns the sexiest one, I own his brother! ;)

Author's notes: This chapter contains another idea from the plot-players. Actually two of them suggested the same thing, thanks to concetta33 and samsarahi for suggesting Brittany's studio.

My plot-players are awesome, it goes without saying, but sometimes they really surprise me. This was one of those weeks. One of the choices given, I didn't think anyone would pick. And guess what? It was the one most did! LOL. Image my surprise! This is why these ladies make this story so much better. They encourage me to think 'outside the plot', LOL. I'm rolling around different scenarios to make the most popular answers happen. Thanks for all your input, my lovely players: FairTaxGirl, margaret fowler, fairytaleprincess03, EEG, samsarahi, shoegirl01, financebabe, writersblock24, Dikent, LilethFaire, BabeCakeLvr, CindyKay, LeiaB, Wanda517 (2 chapter answers), Milenab, forever babe, Pril C and ty93.

I'd like to give a special shout out to Tracy for her friendship and thoughts during her pre-read. Thanks, Babe!

To my dear Isabella, thanks for all you do for me! Xoxos!

Thanks to Jenny for the wonderful job she does betaing. She truly makes this story a better read! Love ya, Babe!

**RPOV**

"Carlos!" Stephanie's urgent exclamation had me bolting awake. Well, that and the arm she'd violently flung across my stomach in an effort to wake me.

"Babe, what is it? Are you sick?" I sat up and turned to my wife. Gently, I swept some tousled hair back from her forehead and pushed it behind her ear to study her face for signs of distress.

The morning sickness of the first trimester had subsided drastically. Only certain food smells tripped her off now, but even that was rare.

"No. I'm not sick. I think I can feel the baby moving!"

"Really?" I placed my hand directly above hers and waited. I didn't feel anything. I pressed a little harder, but still nothing.

"Can you feel it?"

I shook my head. Stephanie gave a little frown, but it didn't lessen the glow of excitement on her face.

"It's very subtle. When I first woke up, I thought I was going to be sick, so I laid really still, hoping it would go away. Once I started focusing on what I was feeling, I realized this was different. It feels like little bubbles, or a fluttering sensation," she rambled out in nearly one long breath.

It was hard to envision what it would be like to have a life growing inside my body and feeling the changes taking place that I had no control of. Stephanie amazed me. She'd been a trooper through all the rounds of sickness that had left her weak and tired. She'd had to adjust her diet to suit her condition, which she'd done with minimal complaint. I was so proud of my wife.

I gave her a warm smile, before lying down next to her with my head resting on her chest and my hand still in place, hoping maybe to feel some small movement. Her free hand immediately tangled in my hair. We lay still for several long moments.

Stephanie blew out a contented sigh. "This makes it all seem more real."

The realness of our child had hit home for me when we heard its heartbeat for the first time a few weeks ago in the Dr. Schwartz's office.

_When she first put the Doppler to Stephanie's stomach, it sounded like a poor reception on the handheld radios I'd used so often in the military. The room was filled with static and scratchy __noises, and then__ a faint sound came through. It sounded like a horse galloping at full speed._

_Dr. Schwartz stopped on that spot and looked up at us with a smile. "That's your baby's heartbeat."_

"_Isn't it sorta fast?" Stephanie asked with concern._

"_No," Dr. Schwartz __replied, and then__ looked at the reading on the device she held. "__One-fifty-seven; that's__ perfect for this stage of your pregnancy."_

The Doppler part of Stephanie's visits had become the highlight for both of us. So much so that I had Bobby order us a Doppler to have at home. It was supposed to arrive sometime this week.

I wanted to keep a log of the baby's heart rate at different times of the day. The log would be a comfort for me, as it would help me keep track of the baby's health. The Doppler, in my eyes, was no different than the trackers I had in Stephanie's and Julie's purses and all our vehicles. They provided me a peace of mind that everyone was safe and accounted for. The gesture might seem a little anal or over-the-top to some, but I'd spent a lifetime looking over my shoulder and worrying about evil reaching the most important people in my life.

Stephanie shifted to look at the bedside clock. "Of course, it's five A.M," she groaned. "This baby would have to be a _morning person_."

"He or she _is_ fifty percent mine, Babe," I told her logically.

If the baby was a morning person, we'd just have some time to ourselves before Mommy got up for the day. I didn't see a problem, and in fact, was a little excited about the prospect.

The last few weeks had seen a definite decline in the amount of sleep I was getting. While Stephanie's sickness had passed, the horniness was going strong, and if anything, had increased. Not that I was complaining, per se, but between work, practice with Raphael for the gig with Santana, and the numerous rounds of sex I'd been having with my wife, sleep was a rare commodity.

I was still tired, and after doing some mental math regarding my schedule for the day, I decided I could sleep for another hour, before heading down to the gym. As I began to let myself drift back to sleep, comfortably resting on Stephanie's chest, she shifted.

Her hand smoothed down my back, over my ass, and then around to find my exhausted cock.

_Seriously! __Again? _my cock complained. My brain told him to shut the fuck up!

Looked like sleep wasn't going to be accomplished in next hour or so.

"Babe?" I whispered, looking up at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"I know I should let you sleep," she said remorsefully, biting at her lip. It had been about two A.M. when we'd finally gone to sleep. "But since I'm awake and after feeling the baby move…well, I just want to celebrate, ya know?"

Nodding my head, I leaned down to press my lips to hers. The electricity of her touch caused me to become more energized. I traced the outline of her lips with my tongue. Her taste was an aphrodisiac. Shifting, I positioned myself over the top of her, with most of my upper body weight resting on my forearms. Securing my hands on either side of her face, I deepened the kiss.

Stephanie groaned into my mouth as she roped her arms around me. Our lower bodies ground together. The friction caused my heart rate to jump up several beats and my cock to grudgingly decide that it _wasn't_ too tired for another round, as it sprang to life.

My lips left Stephanie's mouth to travel down the column of her neck, before finding a luscious breast that already had a pebbled nipple. The pregnancy, so far, had the most effect on her chest. Her breasts were bigger, fuller, and her nipples had darkened. She'd never looked sexier.

When she was standing and turned to the side, I could see the beginnings of her baby bump. My cock hardened as I thought about her growing bigger with my child. It was as good as tattooing 'She's mine!' across her body. A surge of possessiveness caused me to suck her nipple hard into my mouth.

Her hips bucked up, and her fingernails bit into my skin. "Oh yeah, just like that…" she moaned, seeming to sense the change in my demeanor.

I let some of my control slip and allowed myself be carried away by the lust. Sucking as much of her breast into my mouth as I could take, I flicked my eyes up to make sure I wasn't hurting her. She looked back at me with those smoky blue eyes that told me she was just as revved up as I was.

Savoring that breast for several minutes, I then switched to the other one and followed the same pattern as the first. With one hand still fondling her breasts, I kissed down to her stomach. I stopped for a moment to place a gentle kiss directly above where she'd held her hand to feel the baby.

By the time I'd arrived at her pussy and skimmed over her clit with my teeth, she was already dripping. I licked the moisture away and pushed my tongue into her body for more. My right fingers parted her folds to allow me better access, while my left thumb circled her hard little nub at the top of her slit.

Stephanie thrashed around, alternating between pulling at my hair, to clamping her thighs around my head. I showed no mercy. When she started to pant faster, I knew she was getting close. I plunged three fingers into her softness and pinched down on her clit. She exploded.

"Carlos! Oh, fuck!" she screamed as she flew over the edge.

That was just the beginning. Using fingers, mouth, and teeth I worked her into two more orgasms.

"Please," Stephanie begged. "I want to feel _you."_

With one more lick along the entire length of her pussy, I rose to my knees. I straddled one of Stephanie's legs, draped the other over my thigh, and then slid forward until my cock nudged at her entrance.

Stephanie rolled to her side a little, but kept her gaze locked on me. As I began to push inside, her eyes shuttered closed and she bit her lip, her face a mask of concentration.

I closed my eyes as well. I learned, through my training for the Rangers, that by shutting down one sense, it strengthened the others. The same was true with sex. It was why I blindfolded Stephanie sometimes, because she had to rely on her sense of touch to keep track of what I was doing, thus increasing her pleasure.

With my eyes closed, I could feel the ripples of my cock slide through the wet, velvety softness of her pussy as it expanded to accept me into her body.

_Fuck, there was nothing better than this!_

Once I was completely buried inside, I stilled and absorbed everything that I was feeling. Opening my eyes, I found Stephanie looking back at me, no doubt impatient for me to begin moving. When I rocked my hips away, and then right back up forcibly, she smiled and grabbed ahold of my forearm tightly. The dance began. As I pulled out, Stephanie would try to pull me back in, meeting me thrust for thrust.

We'd become experienced lovers, knowing what the other needed without asking. Her fingernail traced and teased at one of my nipples, which had a direct fuel line to my cock. It surged with power, roaring with a need to go deeper, faster.

Pulling out, I flipped Stephanie onto her stomach. She instantly scrambled to her hands and knees. She loved this position, and so did I. Sliding down between her ass cheeks, I probed lightly at her puckered hole with the head of my cock, just as a tease, before moving down to easily slip into her pussy.

I began a steady rhythm in and out of her body.

"Drop your shoulders to the bed, Babe," I instructed.

She did as I asked without hesitation and groaned as I pumped deeper into her body. Stephanie's ass was in the air, and I didn't waste the opportunity. With my thumb, I smeared juices around the puckered hole, before pushing inside.

Stephanie screamed out in pleasure, her hands fisting the material of our sheets.

We stayed in this position, each of us breaking out in a fine sheen of sweat as we took, gave, and demanded more pleasure from one another.

"I'm…I'm…" she panted, having a hard time getting the words out.

"Let go, Babe. I'm ready, too," I told her.

When her body began to tighten, I let go of the leash I'd held on my own orgasm. It tore through my body in waves. As the last drop of my release was milked by the clenching of her pussy, I pulled free and dropped down next to her on the bed.

"You're going to kill me," I teased, though part of me wondered if you could die from too much sex. Hell, who cared? What a way to go!

Stephanie giggled. That sound always went straight to my heart. "Poor baby," she crooned, snuggling up next to my side and resting her head on my shoulder.

"Baby?"

Her hand ran down my front, and a finger trailed down the length of my still partially erect cock. "Maybe not," she purred seductively.

_No! No! No! _my cock shouted, in full self-survival mode.

Checking my watch, I realized all hope of more sleep was gone. In fact, my work-out was going to have to consist of a few laps in the pool and a quick run down the beach. There wasn't time for anything else.

"Stephanie, I need to get up. What are you going to do?"

"Geez, now I'm tired. Can I take a little nap?"

"Sure, Babe. I'm going to go for a quick work-out. Want me to wake you before or after my shower?"

"Hmm," she said in contemplation. "I guess after."

_Thank God! _my cock sighed in relief.

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and then got out of bed.

About two hours later, we were on our way to the office. Stephanie told me she was having lunch with Isabella today and reminded me that she had scheduled our first pregnancy pictures at Brittany's.

When Brittany had heard that we were pregnant, she'd offered to do them as a gift to us, if we allowed her to use some of the shots in her advertisements. Once she'd explained that the ads wouldn't show our faces directly, we'd agreed.

Stephanie made her promise she'd airbrush out any stretch marks. I'd been applying cream to Stephanie's belly every night in an effort to keep that from happening. I wasn't concerned about them in the least—fuck knows, I've got a lot of scars on my body—but Stephanie seemed to find stretch marks unattractive.

We walked into RangeMan, hand in hand. After a brief, passionate interlude of kissing against Stephanie's closed office door, I went out to check with the control room, before going to my office.

I was greeted with a pile of paperwork nearly five inches deep on my desk. Fuck, we needed to find some help! The business had grown remarkably in the last year. We'd purchased another small, faltering security company two months ago, and it had resulted in a huge upswing of clientele.

Lunch was consumed at my desk, as I tried to make progress getting through the paperwork, between phone calls and numerous other interruptions. When the numbers of one very tedious report began to run together, I knew I needed a break. Walking over to my couch, I lay down to catch a few minutes of rest.

It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes later, when I woke, my subconscious sensing someone watching me. I looked through my lashes to find my brother lazily reclining in a visitor's chair directly across from the couch.

_Shit! He was going to have a grand fucking time with this._

I feigned sleep, hoping he'd go away. At his booming laughter, I knew he wasn't going to let me slide. I opened my eyes and looked coldly at him. He laughed harder.

"Good morn…err…afternoon, Sleeping Beauty. Isn't this usually your wife's gig?"

"Fuck off, Raphael," I said, sitting up and rubbing at my tired eyes.

"Testy." Raphael mockingly flinched at my insult. "Maybe there's some truth to the father suffering from similar effects of the pregnancy as the mother. Are you going to start packing on the weight?"

I gave him the blank stare, not biting at his bait.

"What's the problem? Not getting enough sleep at home?"

"It _was_ a short, but very pleasurable night," I replied, giving him just enough information to explain why I was tired and hopefully enough to drop the subject.

"Ain't that the fucking truth!" Raphael said with a big smile. "Shit, bro, I _love_ being married! The sex is phenomenal!"

Discussing the intimate relationship I shared with Stephanie wasn't going to happen, with my brother or anyone else, for that matter. That was the most private sector of my life.

Raphael studied my face for a long time. "Damn, you really look like shit!"

"Thanks," I gritted out between my teeth.

"No. Seriously. Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," I said, and then in an effort to change the subject, I told him, "We need to more actively pursue finding some management help. I know you and Isabella want to travel, and with the baby coming, I don't want to keep long hours, either."

Raphael nodded his head. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too. In fact, I'm working on a lead right now, but I don't know if it's going to pan out."

"I could make a few phone calls, see if someone from one of the other offices wants to relocate, and then shift positions around there, instead of bringing someone new in here," I suggested.

We'd already looked over our staff here in Miami and offered to move a couple of the guys up into management, but they'd declined.

"If my lead fizzles, we'll look at the other offices," Raphael agreed.

"If we still don't find anyone, I can call Henderson in D.C. and see if he knows anyone that's looking for private sector work."

"Sounds like a plan." Raphael rose from his seat, and then thumped me on the back. "I'll let you get back to your naptime, _baby_ brother."

"Have that smart ass mouth of yours in the ring at 1500. I'll show you who the baby is in this family."

Raphael stopped halfway to the door and looked over his shoulder, giving me a cocky grin. "See ya there."

I had a little over an hour before I needed to get downstairs to teach Raphael a lesson. The thought of handing him his ass, combined with the few minutes of rest I had managed to snag, left me feeling pretty good. Maybe, after Brittany was done with the pictures tonight, Stephanie and I could reenact the last time we'd posed for B.

Fuck yeah, the day was definitely looking up!

**SPOV**

I rubbed my little baby bump as I walked into the restaurant to meet Isabella. Now that I'd identified the baby's movement, I noticed it all day long. It was a comfort to feel the tiny little sensations and intensified the connection I felt with the baby. I couldn't wait until the movements were stronger, so Carlos could feel them, too. I wanted to see and memorize the expression on his face when he felt the baby move for the first time.

With a smile on my face, I sat down at the table across from Isabella.

She _wasn't_ smiling. In fact, she looked like she'd been crying. I reached out to grab her hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately, and shooed off the approaching waiter with my other hand.

Isabella began to sob. My anxiety level rose. What the _hell_ was the matter? She didn't answer my question, so I began to speculate aloud.

"Did Raphael do something?"

She nodded her head.

Now I began to get mad. If he'd hurt my friend, I'd kick his ass, pregnancy or no. "What did he do? So help me, if he has another woman, I'll cut his dick off!"

"No! Oh, no!" Isabella gasped, looking at me for the first time. "It's nothing like that!" Her face blushed furiously. "In fact, I think he's _too_ good in bed," she whispered.

_And that's a bad thing? _Damn, I was thankful every day that my husband had an _expert_ rating in bed! Whew, what that man could do… _Snap out of the hormone haze, Stephanie! Isabella is upset!_

"What _exactly_ do you mean by 'too good in bed'?" I asked delicately. I didn't want a dissertation of Raphael's sexual prowess. _Eww! He's my brother-in-law._

"I'm pregnant!" Isabella blurted out loudly. Several patrons of the restaurant turned to look at her. Her face got even redder, before she dropped her head and whispered, "Sorry," before burying her face in her hands.

To say I was stunned would be an understatement—a great big one.

_What do I say now?_ She didn't seem very happy about her news, and I knew from a conversation I'd had recently with Raphael that this was going to be a surprise to him, too. He had begun planning a three month trip around the world for him and Isabella, as a surprise, before our baby was born. Carlos was helping him with some of the details. How was he going to take this change?

This wasn't the place to be having this discussion. Rising from my seat, I grabbed Isabella's hand and her purse and led us outside towards the car. When we got there, I opened the door for her, and then pushed her into the passenger's seat, squatting down next to the car.

"First of all, congratulations! I know you're upset, I assume by the timing, but Isabella, it's a baby! Yours and Raphael's. You're married and happy, that's all that matters."

Isabella wiped at the tears falling down her cheeks. "This isn't what Raphael wants right now. We've talked about it, and I agreed that we'd wait a couple of years before we thought about a family. I'm not even sure how I'm pregnant; I've taken my pills religiously."

"Didn't you have a sinus infection a few weeks ago?"

She nodded her head.

"You took antibiotics, right?"

Again, she nodded.

"Didn't they tell you they can decrease the effectiveness of your birth control?"

"What?" Isabella exclaimed. "No, they didn't." Her shoulders slumped. "I guess that explains how it happened, then. Stephanie, what am I going to do?"

Trying to lighten the mood, I said, "Well, denial is my usual option, but that's not going to work for long in this case."

Isabella groaned.

I squeezed her hands. "You have to tell him. The sooner, the better. Waiting is just going to add stress to your life and the baby's."

"He's going to be upset."

"Yeah, maybe…" I paused and looked at Isabella's skeptical expression. "Okay, so he's going to be upset. He'll get over it! He has to. You didn't get pregnant all by yourself, for goodness sake. He helped; remind him of that. And no birth control is a hundred percent effective, short of having your girly parts surgically altered, that is." _Look at me, I sound like a mother already!_

Isabella leaned her head against the seat and blew out a long breath. "You're right. I need to tell him. _Tonight._ I'm an emotional mess. I'd never be able to hide that from him anyway; he's too perceptive."

"When did you find out?" I wondered how she'd kept it from him this long.

"About an hour ago. I went back to the doctor, because I thought I had the flu. I haven't been feeling well."

"Been there, done that," I sympathized with her. "It'll pass."

"I hope so, because I feel pretty bad right now."

She didn't look good.

"Let me drive you home. I'll send one of the RangeMan guys down to pick up your car when I get back to the office."

Isabella offered no resistance and swung her legs into the car. I closed the door and went around to the driver's side. During the twenty minute drive back to their house, we talked about pregnancy. She gave me a small smile and a big hug after I walked her to the door.

"Look at it this way," I said, holding her hand. "We're in this together, sister!"

"Once I get through telling Raphael, I'll be more excited. I promise. This is just a big change in our plans."

"I know, but it'll be okay. Call me tomorrow, or sooner, if you need to talk."

"I will, Steph. Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Love ya," I called as I walked back to the car.

During the drive back to RangeMan, I wondered how Raphael would take the news. It was going to be a big surprise. I know he loves kids, but his life had been turned upside down in the last few months.

He'd taken to the changes, so far, really well and told me he loved being married. He said he finally understood why Carlos was so devoted and happy with one woman.

I hoped, once he got over the initial shock, that he'd embrace this change as happily as he had the others. I was a little worried about it, though, and decided to talk to Carlos as soon as I got to the office.

I was distracted as I walked down the hall and didn't give any consideration to his closed office door. I simply threw it open without hesitation or knocking first. What I found on the other side of the door stopped me dead in my tracks.

Carlos was locked in an embrace with a beautiful woman that I'd never seen before, and she was leaning in to kiss him on the mouth.

**TBC**

Author's notes: Didn't some of you want the angst meter cranked up? Well…. LOL! I'm aim to please, after all. I'll just be hanging out here in Ranger's office trying to figure out what the heck is going on! Drop a review, please. Thanks! See ya next Wednesday, ~Angie


	15. Don't Run Away

**Chapter 15-Don't Run Away**

Disclaimer: The Plum World is Janet Evanovich's brain child.

Author's notes: Alrighty, the first thing I need to do this week is thank the wonderful friends around me that helped with the content of this chapter. What awesome, selfless ladies they are! Big hugs and kisses to: Isabella, Tracy and Jen! You, my dear babes, Rock!

On to my totally terrific plot-players, who were almost a fifty/fifty split this week in their responses. I'm going to satisfy everyone's choice (see author's note at the end of the chapter). My heartfelt thanks to all these special people who really take my writing experience to a deeper, more personal level with their interest: Pril C, Leia B, samsarahi, Cindy Kay, kjen, Buffalo Woman, fairytale princess, writersblock24, Milenab, Lu2read, ty93, finance babe, Wanda 517, shoegirl01, margaret fowler, EEG, Barb4psu, JerseySue, LilethFaire, and forever babe.

This chapter contains some of the plot-player's ideas for Stephanie's pregnancy cravings. I plan on using more of them in future chapters, but this chapter uses responses from: fairytale princess, rangergirl1234, Leia B, Cindy Kay. Thanks, babes!

As always, thanks to Jenny for her superior beta skills and all her time making this story a smoother read.

**SPOV**

It's odd how, when something so unexpected happens in your life, it seems to almost freeze time. Sort of like a car accident, a surprise guest, your car exploding before you very eyes…or finding your husband in the arms of another woman. Time stood still. My heart stopped beating for that one small moment in time.

Just as the woman's lips started to touch Carlos', he grabbed her upper arms and pushed her back, saying with sharp words, "No, Kiana. I'm married."

_Kiana? Oh. My. God. I knew who this was! _My mind struggled to process who, not just what, I was seeing.

Kiana gave a seductive little giggle. "That didn't matter when you were married before."

I gasped, and my sight became blurred through the thickness of tears. _Carlos had cheated on Rachel?_

Carlos sprang away from Kiana at the sound of my gasp, his eyes instantly finding mine. Several emotions flashed across his face, but the one that stood out the most, to me, was guilt.

I suddenly felt sick. I needed to get out of this office and away from him! I turned on my heel and wrenched the door open.

At my first step, Carlos called out. "Stephanie! Wait!"

But I wasn't stopping. I couldn't face him right now; I just had to get away. I rushed out of his office, slamming the door behind me and not paying any attention to what I was doing or where I was going. I needed to move fast and think smart, if I didn't want Carlos to find me. My mind began frantically searching for options. The tears were almost completely blinding me, and I didn't see Raphael coming out of his office until it was too late. We plowed into one another…hard.

"What the…" Raphael exclaimed, reaching out to steady me and keep me from falling.

Desperate to keep moving, I tried to wretch free of his grasp, but that only resulted in him tightening his hold, especially when he noticed my tears.

"Stephanie, what's wrong?" he demanded, quickly scanning my body for injuries.

"Carlos…with…another woman," I stuttered through sobs, as I tried to pull free of Raphael so I could run, far and fast.

"What?" Raphael asked with confusion.

Carlos exploded out of his office, sweeping the area quickly for signs of me.

I scrambled behind Raphael, clutching his shirt and pulling us both into his office. Clicking the lock in place, I shoved a stunned Raphael against his door and pleaded, "Please don't let him in here right now! I don't want to see him."

The words were no sooner out of my mouth, when the pounding on the door began.

"Open this door," Carlos demanded in a voice that would have most people messing their pants.

But not me. I'd blown past the weeping part and could feel the beginnings of full-rhino mode taking shape.

"No!" I yelled back at Carlos, which caused Raphael to flinch.

It was deathly quiet on the other side of the door.

"This lock is about a forty-five second deterrent for me getting in there," Carlos whispered through the door.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted back. I knew my behavior was childish, but for the life of me, I couldn't stop it or bring myself to face Carlos.

"Babe, it's not what you think. Please. Let me explain."

I rolled my eyes. I'd heard similar words from Dickie several years ago. That thought made my blood boil.

"Ummm, bro?" Raphael spoke to Carlos through the door, though his eyes never left mine.

"Raphael, stay the fuck out of this," Carlos warned quietly.

"I'd love to, but it appears I'm right smack in the middle of it at the moment. Go to your office, Carlos. Everyone on the floor is watching this play out."

"Like I care about that. I want to talk to Stephanie."

"Well, bro, she doesn't want to talk to you right now, so maybe you both ought to throttle down and regroup. Give us a few minutes in here, okay?"

"We need to talk," Carlos replied.

"And you will. Just give it time," Raphael reasoned.

"I'll be in my office," he clipped out, clearly unhappy with the way this was going down.

I blew out a long sigh of relief.

"It's only a stay of the inevitable," Raphael stated. "He isn't going to be put off for long. Now, will you please tell me what the fuck is going on?"

"There's a woman in Carlos' office," I said in a huff.

"Yes, I know. She has a five o'clock meeting with us. I was on my way to his office when we collided."

"You invited her here?" I asked with disbelief.

Raphael nodded. "To interview for a management position. She has all the qualifications we're looking for."

"Is one of those to seduce my husband?" I asked spitefully. If I sounded bitchy, I didn't care.

"What? Of course not, Stephanie. If you think—"

I held up my hand to stop any further words. "You know what I think? I _think_ I want out of here. I want to be _anywhere_ but here. In fact, I'm leaving. Right now!"

Well, I would leave, if one big block-headed Manoso male would get out of my way. I shot him the death glare. He didn't move. Did he not see how truly pissed off I was at this moment? He did _not_ want to tangle with me in this state.

"You're pissed," Raphael said calmly.

"Well, no shit!" I shouted back at him. "Do you know what I just interrupted?"

"No, actually, I don't. And clearly, I don't think you do, either."

"Of course you'd choose his side," I said disgustedly.

"His side?" Raphael questioned. "I don't even know what the fuck is going on. How can I choose a side?"

"I. Want. To. Leave!" I stomped my foot with each word I bit out between clenched teeth.

"Okay. I'll take you home."

"I don't need _you _to take me anywhere. I can drive myself."

"Not as pissed off as you are right now. It's either me, or I drag you into Carlos' office and let him deal with you."

_No! I didn't want that. Not yet._

"Fine," I snapped.

When Raphael opened the door, part of me expected to find Carlos standing on the other side. He wasn't, and I was relieved. Raphael texted Carlos to let him know we were heading to the house. I didn't want him to do it, but apparently the subject was not open to discussion. The ride in the elevator and the first part of the drive were done in absolute silence.

At a red light, a couple of blocks from home, Raphael looked over at me. Tears were falling unchecked down my face. Raphael reached over and squeezed my hand. "Stephanie, what happened back there?"

I hung my head. The mature part of my brain, the part I'd been ignoring so far, knew that I needed to talk this out and deal with it. I looked at Raphael. "What do you know about Kiana?"

"Quite a bit, actually. Before scheduling the interview, I ran a deep background check on her, including her military record."

Raphael pulled away from the light, easing through the gears of the high-powered car.

"And what about her relationship with Carlos?"

Raphael's eyes flicked quickly over to mine, before returning to the road. "They know each other? Through the Army? I noticed they were stationed at the same places around the same times."

"Uh, yeah, they _know_ each other," I snarled. Carlos had told me that their relationship had been a purely sexual one, which had ended abruptly when she wanted something more serious and permanent.

"Oh ho, now I'm beginning to see," Raphael said, as he pulled the car into the driveway. "Are you jealous of an ex?" he asked, with a hint of disbelief.

"Jealous? _No_!" I answered quickly, though a part of me knew that wasn't true.

I got out of the car and stomped into the house. I threw open the door, tossed my purse at the hallway table, and began pacing the length of the living room.

Raphael came in a few minutes later and flopped down on the couch. "So if you're not jealous, what's this all about?"

"I caught them together!" I fumed, giving an innocent chair a swift kick. _Ouch! Dammit! _I stopped pacing to rub at my sore toe.

"Caught them together _how_ exactly?"

"They were getting ready to _kiss!"_

"Are you sure?"

I glared at Raphael. "Of course I'm sure! I was standing right there!"

"I can't believe that my brother was an active participant in something like that. He loves you and is completely devoted to you."

The sound of the garage door opening, followed by the screech of brakes, caused us both to look towards the kitchen door. Carlos was home; my running was over.

Raphael rose from the couch. His eyes trailed down to my belly. "Remember, there's more involved than just you and Carlos now. You need to work this out."

At that moment, I felt the strongest movement yet of the baby inside me, and most of the mad drained away as I placed my hands directly over the spot on my stomach. Raphael was right. It wasn't just us anymore, and I needed to focus on that. The ride my emotions were taking would leave most people green and sick, but I had started to get use to the craziness of them.

The kitchen door opened, and a clearly angry Carlos stepped inside.

_Why was he angry? _I was the one that had caught him in the arms of another woman! My temper began to build again, but the baby seemed to sense it and gave me another sharp movement. Obviously, the fifty percent of the child that was his wasn't happy with me being mad at its DNA donor. I took a deep, calming breath to steady myself as I watched Raphael approach Carlos.

"So, it doesn't look like this Kiana woman is going to work out," Raphael teased.

I made a mental note to slap Raphael upside the head at the next opportunity.

Carlos slammed down the blank face and looked between me and Raphael. "I've already sent her on her way. She _won't_ be back."

"Yeah, I think that's best," Raphael murmured, and then with a serious expression, looked back at me over his shoulder. "Remember what I said, little sis. There are three players in this game." He opened the front door and called out, "Try not to say or do anything stupid. Either of you." With that parting shot, he slammed the door closed, and a minute later, his car roared out of the drive.

Carlos remained silent, leaning against the counter, staring at me, his arms folded across his chest.

The waiting was driving me insane. Part of me wanted to pick up the nearest item and throw it at his head, and the other part wanted to rush into his arms and tell him to just forget the whole ugly incident and send it happily packing off to Denial Land. I did neither of those things; I stood rooted to my spot in the living room, instead.

Finally, Carlos broke the silence. "You ran," he stated flatly.

"You were nearly kissed by another woman! One which you have a history with!" I accused sharply.

"_Nearly_ and _history _are the operative words in those statements, Stephanie."

Choosing to ignore that remark, I changed direction. "Did you cheat on Rachel?"

When Kiana had said that, it had really hurt, because I didn't want to see Carlos as someone who'd cheated on his spouse. That hit a little too close to home with my previous marriage. I didn't want Carlos to be lumped into the same group with Dickie.

Carlos' shoulders sagged slightly. "Damn Kiana for putting that thought in your head."

That wasn't an answer.

"Is it true?" I whispered.

"Technically, I wasn't officially divorced from Rachel when I hooked up with Kiana."

I sucked in my breath and flinched when Carlos slammed his fist down hard on the countertop.

"Would you quit jumping to the wrong conclusions and give me a chance to explain?" he barked. The words had no sooner left his mouth, before he raked his fingers through his hair and whispered, "I'm sorry. This is a first class cluster-fuck, and my behavior is not helping. Can we go sit outside on the deck?"

Nodding my head, I walked towards the French doors that led out to the pool deck. Carlos motioned for me to precede him; I did and took a seat on the couch facing the ocean.

He sat next to me and offered his hand to me palm up. It was the most natural thing in the world for me to link my hand with his. At Carlos' touch, I felt my emotions begin to calm and center, and some of the tension I'd noticed in him ebbed away, too.

"I've done many things in my life that I'm not proud of. Kiana is among those regrets. I used her. Hell, I used most of the women I met before you. My marriage to Rachel was a joke; neither of us put any effort into making it work. I spent most of the marriage overseas on missions, and when I came back Stateside on leave, we decided to file for divorce."

This part of the story I'd heard before, but I didn't feel this was for my benefit, as much as for Carlos putting this to rest for himself.

Carlos gave me a hint of a smile. "Yeah, I know you know this already. The part I left out, though, when I first told you about Kiana, was that my divorce was not final at the time I began seeing her. It was a gray area to me. The papers were signed, Rachel and I had said our good-byes, and I'd returned to where I was stationed in Germany. It was more than three months before the courts finalized the divorce and I received the papers."

"So, you didn't cheat on Rachel before that?"

"Of course not. I was a heartless bastard for many years, but I remained faithful to the promises I made to Rachel until we both decided to end the marriage."

I blew out a small sigh of relief. He _wasn't_ like Dickie! "When I saw another woman in your arms…" I paused as I felt my heart twist at the image. "And then, when I realized _who _she was…"

Carlos squeezed my fingers tightly. "It started out as a friendly hug. I haven't seen her in years and was surprised when she entered my office-you arrived about thirty seconds after she did. I know what it looked like, what you must have thought, but Babe, why didn't you trust me, trust in us? I stopped her before anything inappropriate happened."

And there was the rub. Why was my knee-jerk reaction to immediately think Carlos was no different than Dickie? I knew better, and Carlos had never given me any reason to doubt him or his feelings for me.

_Dammit, __I really__ screwed this up bad! Nice job, impulsive __Stephanie. Nice__ job._

My eyes met his, and all I saw in their beautiful, dark chocolate depths was love and understanding.

"You're right. I jumped to all the wrong conclusions. I should have trusted you," I admitted quietly.

He reached out to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. "It's how our relationship was founded, Stephanie—on trust. Please don't run away from me, no matter how bad it looks or how mad you are."

I gave a little laugh. "I can't promise that, Carlos, but I can try. Can you try not to find yourself in compromising positions with mysterious, beautiful, rail-thin women?"

That earned me a full-watt smile from him. "Babe, you're the only one I want—will ever want."

"Awww, I think that just earned you a kiss."

Our lips met in a tender kiss that claimed and reestablished our connection. His hands cupped my face, tilting it to the side slightly to allow him better access to my mouth. I fisted my hands into his shirt, pulling him closer and holding on tight.

Gradually, we pulled our mouths away; Carlos took advantage of the momentary separation by pulling me into his lap. I draped myself across him and buried my face in his neck to inhale the unique blend of Carlos and Bvlgari.

"I hate it when we argue," he murmured.

"Same here, Batman. The good news is we don't make a habit of it."

"Thank God for that," Carlos breathed into my hair.

The little wiggle I did in his lap caused his cock to pulse in response. _Time for the best part of fighting with Carlos…make up sex!_

"Let's take this upstairs," he said, as he rose, carrying me in his arms, bridal-style, and crossing to the doors of the house.

I rested my head against his shoulder as he carefully walked up the stairs to our bedroom. "Better enjoy this now. In a couple of months, I'll be too big for you to carry," I sighed.

"Don't think I'm strong enough, Babe? Maybe I need more time in the gym. I have had to cut my last couple of sessions short because of the wild cat sharing my bed," Carlos teased.

Reaching my hand to his right shoulder, I smoothed over the flex on his bicep, which was standing up hard as a rock with the effort of carrying me. Moisture pooled between my legs. "Hmm," I purred. "I take that back. This seems to be in fine working order." I gave the muscle a squeeze.

"It's not the only thing, either…" he growled.

My doodah began to do her warm-up stretches and jumping jacks. "Walk a little faster, okay?" I encouraged my husband.

He bounded up the last few stairs quickly.

Carlos lay me down in the center of the bed and began a slow removal of my clothes. He started with my shirt and worked down from there. Random kisses were dropped to my bare skin, as articles of clothing were removed. I was a mass of need by the time he had me completely naked. Carlos gently pushed my knees wide apart, and then stared down at my exposed flesh with a look of pure lust on his face.

He licked from my moist opening, all the way up to my nub, which he circled firmly with the tip of his tongue.

"Oh God," I moaned, throwing my head back and to the side. I looked at the picture of us that hung on the wall. The one that Brittany had taken. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

"You like that, huh, Babe?"

"No," I said firmly, and Carlos immediately stopped to look up at me.

"You don't?" His face was a mask of confusion.

"Not that," I said with a smirk. "_That _was very good. We forgot our appointment with Brittany tonight!"

"She called me on my way here, when she couldn't get a hold of you. I told her we needed to reschedule. She's going to call you next week."

"Oh, okay. Now, where were we?" I asked, tapping my fingernail thoughtfully against my bottom lip.

"I was right here," Carlos said, and then bit lightly at my clit. My hips jerked up and held, begging him, without words, to do that again. And he did!

After I'd screamed his name for the second time, his lips began the trek up my body. As had become his habit, he stopped at the small baby bump to place a soft, tender kiss. There was another sharp movement. Carlos went completely still. His eyes instantly flicked up to mine with an anxious expression.

"Was that the baby?"

I nodded my head and watched as the strong, sometimes fierce, face of my husband softened like I'd never seen before.

"Hola, mi hijo," he whispered. (Hello, my child)

Carlos rested his head against my stomach. I reached down and gently ran my fingers through his soft as silk hair, while tears of happiness prickled at the corner of my eyes. I wasn't sure how much time passed, as each of us wrapped the moment around us.

When Carlos finally lifted his head to look at me, his eyes spoke of the intensity of the emotions he was feeling. "I love you, Stephanie, and this child, with everything that I am. Don't ever doubt it."

"I love you, too," I murmured, a moment before his lips fused with mine.

The kiss was filled with tenderness that soon gave way to stronger emotion, as the need to express our love physically took over. With little preamble, Carlos slid the solid length of his cock into me, not stopping until he was buried to the hilt.

The moan that left me was loud and long. My back arched up involuntarily, which forced my aching breasts close enough to Carlos' lips that he was able to suck a nipple into his mouth. _Oh hell, yeah!_ Every fiber of my being began to chant for more.

I hooked my ankles directly above Carlos' ass, driving him deeper into me. He supported my hips and began to move, using long, deep, rhythmic strokes that had me climaxing in short order. Carlos paused, his jaw locked tight, while my orgasm clenched around his cock. Once the peak of it began to recede, he started moving again, though with more determined, faster strokes.

Before long, his body was pounding into mine, as he drove us both towards completion. When I started to come, Carlos grabbed both of my hands and stretched them high above my head. My body was his for the taking as I let go and freefell into the powerful waves of pleasure. The pulsing of his cock deep inside me had both of us groaning in satisfaction.

I lay limp and exhausted under the deliciously heavy weight of my husband, while we each tried to catch our breaths. The moment he recovered, he flipped to his side and pulled me over to him. I rested my head directly above his heart, which was still beating a rapid tempo.

Feeling at absolute peace, I took a few minutes to reflect on the day, the good and the bad, and then I remembered my lunch with Isabella.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, feeling Carlos' body tense in preparation of something being wrong.

"What is it?"

"I forgot to tell you the big news!"

I felt a moment of hesitation as I tried to decide if I should let Raphael share the news first with his brother. Then I remembered how Raphael had 'forced' us to spill about our child. I decided to go ahead and say something, because I mainly wanted to see how Carlos thought Raphael would respond to the news.

"Isabella's pregnant," I blurted out without warning.

The tension left Carlos' body. His voice held a bit of surprise and a touch of laughter, when he said, "Really?"

"Yep. How do you think Rafe's going to handle that news?"

"He doesn't know?"

Shaking my head, I looked up at Carlos' face. He was considering and processing the information. The grim expression that he wore a second later had my stomach clenching.

"I don't think he's ready to be a father, yet, Babe. This is really going to catch him off guard."

"But he'll deal with it, right?"

"He doesn't have a choice," Carlos stated flatly.

"I just hope he doesn't upset Isabella. She's just as surprised as he's going to be. They'd planned on waiting to start a family."

"Well, their plan just changed." Carlos shook his head slightly. "Rafe as a dad, and our children only a few months apart. Who would have ever thought that would happen?"

We lay in silence for a few minutes, until my stomach complained…loudly. Carlos gave a barely perceivable chuckle.

"Hungry, Babe?"

"Yeah, I'm starving. Do you know what really sounds good right now?" I asked, rising from the bed and grabbing my robe.

Carlos pulled on a pair of running shorts, and then grabbed my hand as we made our way downstairs. "I have no idea. Your cravings have been all over the place."

I rolled my eyes. Carlos had never, would never, appreciate food like me. Okay, since I'd become pregnant, I would admit some of the combinations had been a little bizarre, but when it's what you want, it's what you want! Simple as that, and I'd given up trying to fight it.

"Do we still have some of Ella's homemade mango chutney?"

"Yes, right here," he replied, pulling the jar from the refrigerator. "She sent some more last week."

"Oh, good! I'm thinking cold grilled chicken from last night, with the chutney and some peanut butter." I ignored Carlos' flinch, and continued, "A tomato with mayo on top, and then for dessert...maybe a small scoop of wasabi ice cream."

"That sounds absolutely disgusting."

I patted his arm sympathetically. "You don't know if you don't try. Aren't you the one that talks about 'broadening horizons'?"

"On the food front, I think they're broad enough. I'm having a grilled chicken salad for dinner."

"Boorrriinnggg," I drawled out, stifling a fake yawn.

Carlos gave me an indulgent smile and began to assemble the food, while I sat the table. We each enjoyed our very different dinners. As we were cleaning up, my cell phone began to play Isabella's ring tone, _Rolling in the Deep_ by Adele—her current favorite song. I scrambled towards the phone, managing to locate it in my purse and answer the call before it was missed.

"Hey! How are you?" I asked breathlessly into the phone.

The only answer I got was the sound of sobbing.

"Isabella, what's wrong?" I had a pretty good idea, but I needed to hear it from her.

She sniffled a couple times. "I told Raphael."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause while I waited for her to continue. My impatience got the better of me. "And…?"

"He…he…" she stuttered, and then took a deep, steading breath. "He didn't say anything, not a word—just walked out of the house. It's been a couple of hours now. I tried his phone, but it goes straight to voicemail." The sobbing began again in earnest.

_Damn, damn, damn!_

"I'm sorry, Iz. I know this is hard. I'm sure he's just shell-shocked right now and responding badly. He'll come around." I sent a silent prayer to the heavens to make that a true statement and not a lie. "Sit tight. There's no need for you to be alone. I'm on my way over, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Steph," she replied softly.

"No problem. We pregnant friends have to stick together," I teased, hoping to lift her spirits some, even a tiny bit. We said our good-byes, and I turned to Carlos.

"Raphael didn't take the news well. In fact, he left without a word."

Carlos shook his head sadly. "He's going to need some time to deal with this in his own way. His first reaction is to retreat and try to get a grip, make a plan." Carlos twisted one of my curls around his finger a few times before he continued. "Raphael's never had a serious, healthy relationship and hasn't realized when life throws a curve, you run to your woman…not away."

"That's where I screwed up earlier today, huh? By running away?"

He gave me a tight smile and a small nod, and then drew me into his embrace. "We're both going to make mistakes, handle situations the wrong way, but we have to remember we'll always be stronger together than apart, Stephanie."

"I can understand Raphael's need to run. Really, I get it. But Isabella's just as blown back by this as he is. I'm going to go see if I can at least distract her for a while, help pass the time."

Giving Carlos a quick kiss, I went upstairs to get dressed. When I came back down, Carlos was working in his office. I stood in the doorway for a moment and just enjoyed the sight of my seriously handsome, intense, and devoted husband. _What did I ever do to deserve him?_

He sensed my presence and looked up. I smiled at him, giving him a flirty little finger-wave. Carlos quirked his sexy eyebrow.

That eyebrow always turned me on! Before I could make a seductive comment about what I wanted to do with him when I got back home, the doorbell rang.

Carlos clicked a couple keys on the keyboard, and then glanced at the monitor that undoubtedly held the camera feed for the front door. When his eyes flicked back to mine, they were filled with surprise.

"Who is it?" I asked impatiently.

"It's Raphael."

**TBC**

Author's notes: So, is Stephanie going to deliver the swift kick in the behind that Raphael needs to get back on track?... Stay tuned to find out!

Well, I have a little surprise for everyone. I'm planning on doing some out-takes to this story, which will include readers finding out the sex of Ranger and Stephanie's child before they do. On that particular chapter, I will post a warning for those of you who still want to be surprised.

The first scheduled out-take was actually written by my dear friend, Kricket. It's the fight scene between Ranger and Raphael, and it's really, really good! The plan is to post this collection of chapters under the title, _Baby Peeks_. Look for it on the FanFiction board sometime in the coming week.

For those of you who are mothers, Happy Mother's Day to you on Sunday! May the day be filled with all your favorite things. I'm hoping for breakfast in bed!

Have a safe, fun week! Please review. Thanks so much! See ya next Wednesday! ~Angie


	16. Into the Night

**Chapter 16-Into the Night**

Disclaimer: Yeah, Ranger still belongs to JE. I've invented Raphael as a substitute. This chapter also contains Carlos Santana and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. They aren't mine either, though I wouldn't mind sharing a drink with Chad. LOL! I've been to one of his concerts, and he's hiliarious!

Author's notes: Hey, just wanted to let all of you know that I posted an outtakes story for this one entitled, Baby Peeks. It posted on Tuesday. The first scene is the fight scene between Ranger and Raphael. If the response to the outtakes is good, I'll write a couple more chapters for it. I have ideas…LOL. Please go give it a look (and a review). It was a fun little exercise for me and Kricket.

Is it just me or is everyone's month of May just pure madness? Geez. Bring on vacation! I'm ready.

Here are the players that submitted names for my obvious plot-player question for last chapter. I've definitely got some good ones to choose from. Special thanks to all of you!: AmandaBabe, LilethFaire, CindyKay, PrilC, Isabella Manoso, ty93, samsarahi, Barb4psu, BuffaloWoman, EEG, Milenab, LeiaB, Wanda517.

To the lovely real life Isabella, thanks for all your wise input and unwavering support! Xoxos!

Wow, did I really put my dear beta through her paces this week! I finished writing this chapter at six p.m. on Tuesday. She's such a trooper that she got it back to me enough time to make my weekly Wednesday update. Let's all give Jenny a big round of applause! Thanks, a whole heaping bunch this week, Babe!

**RPOV**

Stephanie went to get the door, and I decided to hang back a bit to allow them a few minutes alone. They had a unique relationship, in which I didn't interfere. In some ways, Stephanie might be better equipped to handle my brother than I. Fuck knows words aren't my strong suit.

I could hear their low, murmuring voices when I left my office and walked across the living room. Sliding up behind Stephanie, I wrapped my arms around her and gently laid my open palms against her baby bump.

Raphael's eyes tracked the movement; his face held a myriad of emotions. He gave a deep sigh and looked intently at the floor.

Stephanie turned in my embrace, and then loosely draped her arms around my neck. "He wants to talk to you," she whispered. "I'm going to go check on Isabella." Gently, she pressed her lips to mine for a quick, loving kiss.

After another kiss and a tight hug, I released her. She grabbed her purse from the hallway table, and then stepped next to Raphael, resting her head against his shoulder.

"I'm going to give you the same advice you gave me earlier. 'Remember, there are three players in your game now.'"

"Yeah, I got that. I'm just trying to get a handle on the new game I'm going to be playing."

She patted his arm. "You'll get it. I'm going to go check on your wife. Don't be too long here. She's worried, and that's not a good thing in her condition." Stephanie walked towards the garage door, and then turned back to Raphael, the handle clasped in her hand. "Oh, and for God's sake, you better be bringing more than flowers home when you get there. You might also want to plead for forgiveness. Maybe you won't spend the night on the couch." She gave Raphael a serious look, a smile to me, and then shut the door firmly.

"Fuck," Raphael breathed out. "What the hell am I going to do now?"

Not able to resist teasing him a bit, I said matter-of-factly, "You're going to learn how to change diapers."

"That's your advice? Why did I come here?"

"I'm sorry, Rafe; you left yourself wide open for that one. Let's grab a beer and head outside. Maybe open air will clear your head, give you a new perspective."

"A new perspective, huh? Looks like that's going to be arriving in a few short months," he groaned, raking his fingers through his hair and dropping into a reclining chair at the edge of the deck.

I passed him a beer, and then sat down in the chair to his right, facing him. "Aren't you at least a little bit excited about the child?"

"I'd be more excited if this news came about three years from now."

"Well, it didn't, so get over it," I stated firmly. He didn't like the softer approach, no problem; I was going to cut through the bullshit to the heart of the matter. I preferred that way better anyway.

Raphael gave me an angry expression. "Should have known not to expect sympathy from you, considering Steph's pregnant."

"Don't you think I haven't been in your shoes? You think I wanted to hear that Rachel was pregnant seventeen years ago? Fuck, I'd just made the cut for the Rangers, and the last thing I wanted was a child—or a wife, for that matter." I paused and reflected back on that time of my life. I'd been so pissed at Rachel, though it was just as much my fault as hers. I could see that now. It wasn't that clear back then.

We each looked away from one another, out to the ocean. My voice was soft when I spoke again. "Julie's one of the greatest gifts in my life. Yeah, the timing sucked, but I don't regret her, not for a moment."

"The timing sucked," Raphael repeated. "That's exactly how I feel now. Damn, bro, I just wanted a little more time with Isabella, before kids came into the picture."

"Everything happens for a reason." I was a firm believer in that.

"Now you're pulling the psychology bullshit?"

"I could drag you onto the beach and beat the hell out of you. That's swiftly gaining appeal with me."

Raphael gave a snort of laughter. "After the ass whipping _I'd_ give _you_, Isabella would still be pregnant."

"Yes, she would. So instead of sitting here whining like a selfish child, why don't you get your ass home to your wife and work this out?"

"And how do I do that, oh wise one?"

"I'd take Stephanie's approach—something more than flowers and a whole lot of pleading for her to forgive your stupid, sorry ass. I've slept on the couch _once._ It ain't fun."

Raphael stood and passed me his nearly full bottle of beer. All he'd done was nervously peel off the label. I walked with him to the front door. He stopped briefly in the hall and turned back to me.

"What do I say to her? I was a real jerk, just walking out without a word."

"Be honest. About everything. It's the only way to have a healthy relationship." I gave him the best piece of relationship advice I had in my arsenal. "You both love each other. Lean into it, and then get excited about becoming parents together, even if the timing sucks. You won't regret it. I promise."

"Thank you, Dr. Phil," Raphael smirked.

"The beach is just a few short steps away," I threatened. _Hell, did he think I was _comfortable_ dishing out relationship advice?_

"Don't have time now, bro. My psychologist says I need to go catch up with my wife." There was the smartass tone of my brother's that had been missing earlier; he was starting to see his way clear.

Raphael jogged out to his car and pulled open the driver's side door, but before he got in, he called out, "Thanks, Carlos. For everything."

I nodded my head and watch as he drove away. Pulling the cell phone from my pocket, I sent a text to Stephanie, letting her know Raphael had just left, and then went back to my office to work on paperwork until she got home.

I'd just finished reading a report from Tank on a brutal take-down they'd had this morning, when Stephanie walked into my office.

"Hey, Babe. How's Isabella?"

"She got a little better after the first pint of Ben & Jerry's. By the second one, she'd quit crying altogether." Stephanie gave me an innocent looking smile. Food was her solution to everything.

_Not__ everything,_my cock put his two cents worth in. Yeah... Lately, food had taken a definite back seat to sex. I was a lucky man!

"I stayed until Raphael got there. They looked like they were both ready to talk it out," Stephanie said as she slid into my lap. "Whatdja say to him, Batman? He seemed better."

Trailing my finger slowly down the column of her throat, I told her, "I threatened to drag his ass to the beach and beat the hell out of him."

"Hmm," Stephanie purred, part in contemplation and part in response to what I was doing to her body. "Good thing you went into the security business, instead of the psychology business. Not sure that approach would work in most cases."

"I don't know... Sometimes, what people need most is a good ass kicking."

"You realize you're turning me on, right?" she asked, her eyes taking on that smoky look.

I circled her pebbled nipple through the thin material of her t-shirt. "Yeah, this was my first clue."

Her hands found their way under my shirt, and she kept tugging it up until it was off my body. Stephanie's mouth lowered to my neck, kissing up and down, and then lightly sucked on the lobe of my ear while she pinched tightly at my nipple. _Fuck!_

Within a couple of minutes, I'd managed to get my wife out of all her clothes and had her sitting buck-ass naked on my desk. I was mentally etching the picture on my brain. I spread her legs wide, and then settled her feet on the arms of the desk chair. First, I paid homage to each of her breasts, before turning my attention to her dripping pussy, which was on beautiful display, hovering at the edge of the desk.

My tongue stroked down between her lips, and then I began a sensual assault to her clit, not stopping until she screamed out in pleasure.

"God, Babe, there's nothing sexier than watching you come."

"Wanna see me do it again?" she teased, quirking her finger at me in the 'come here' gesture.

I straightened and pressed my lips to hers. Our tongues began a passionate duel, while Stephanie's hand found its way into my shorts and I leisurely stroked in and out of her pussy with two of my fingers.

When we finally separated briefly to catch our breaths, I shoved the stuff around on my desk to make a space for her to lay back. With my arms wrapped around her, I gently lowered her to the desk. I stripped off my shorts and took in the sight of my wife, stretched out naked and wanting on my desk. Yeah, this was definitely going to be a mental picture I reflected on often.

My cock shouted, _Let's get to work!_

That sounded like an excellent plan to the rest of me, too, and it seemed Stephanie was definitely on board with the idea, as well. _Shit, _she was playing with her own nipples.

_Charge!_ my cock cried, rallying the troops.

Propping Stephanie's feet on my shoulders, I aligned myself to her center and drove home in one hard thrust. We both groaned in pleasure; the penetration was so deep this way. In fact, I worried that it was too deep and maybe uncomfortable for her.

"Babe, you okay with this?"

"I'm way better than okay. God, it feels terrific!"

That was all the encouragement I needed. I began a steady rhythm, watching Stephanie's face for any signs of discomfort or pain. The signs never came, but each of us did. The clenching of her pussy around my cock during her orgasm threw me into my own climatic completion.

I lifted her gently and sat down in the desk chair, with her on my lap, as we caught our breaths. We were quiet and just took pleasure in holding one another.

A few minutes later, Stephanie was sound asleep. I carried her up to the bedroom and laid her down in bed, without her waking. I sat for a long time on the edge of the bed, brushing softly at her hair with my hands. Her breathing deepened. I went back downstairs to turn off lights and activate the security system to full strength.

When I returned to our bedroom, I lay down in bed, resting my head next to Stephanie's baby bump. I spoke softly in Spanish to our child. In one of the pregnancy books I'd been reading, it mentioned talking to the child while it was in the womb strengthened your connection. Strength training had been a huge part of my life, though most of it was in the physical sense. I'd found it was just as important in the emotional sense, too.

After a few more words with our child, I slid up until my head rested on the pillow. I spooned my body behind Stephanie's, with our hands resting protectively over her womb. I was so thankful to be experiencing this journey with Stephanie, and I hoped, somewhere across town, that my brother was feeling the same way about his own journey with his wife.

SPOV

It was the night of the concert with Santana, Chad Kroeger, and my super-sexy husband playing drums, all on the same stage. I hope my heart could handle the excitement. This had the makings of one very fine evening of lovemaking when we got home late tonight. I'd taken a nap earlier in the day in preparation.

Who was I kidding? I took a nap every day anymore. Pregnancy was exhausting! I rubbed at my protruding stomach. Gone was the little baby bump. It had been replaced with the makings of a watermelon. I was getting to be huge! Okay, so far I'd gained the appropriate amount of weight, as Dr. Schwartz had advised at my last visit, but I felt huge!

Carlos felt proud. I shouldn't have worried one second about him not being interested in me as I got bigger with child. Every inch I expanded, his need for me seemed to double. I'd been receiving a lot of Carlos-induced orgasms, thank you very much!

In fact, I'd just received a thriller of one fifteen minutes ago in the shower, while I tried to work off a little bit of Carlos' nervous energy regarding tonight's concert. He was sliding into his jeans when I emerged from the bathroom. He still went commando most of the time, and I had to admit, that was a fine thing, especially when you're in a big hurry to get down to _business_.

"So, Babe, you're going to drop me off, and then go get Julie and Gavin?"

"Yes, dear." I patted him softly on his shoulder as I attempted to squeeze past him in the closet to get to the section that held my clothes.

He kept me from getting past him, by pulling me into his embrace. "You're incredibly sexy pregnant. I've told you that, right?" he breathed into my hair, his hand smoothing down along the swell of our child.

"You might have mentioned it a couple of times lately."

"It's true," Carlos growled, lowering his lips to my ear. He sucked the lobe into his mouth.

I tipped my head back, allowing him better access. "We really need to get scooting."

Carlos kissed his way to my lips, and then attacked my mouth with passionate fervor. Time marched on as we lost ourselves in the kiss, until the baby gave a kick so strong that even Carlos felt it between our bodies.

His face was creased into a huge smile as he pulled back from me. "Think he or she is going to be a World Cup soccer player?"

"I don't know about that; I think it's just trying to push us along. Probably anal about being on time, like someone else I know."

"Babe."

I giggled and crossed to the area that held my jeans. The stretchy front panel of the maternity jeans sure cut down on the sexy factor, in my opinion. They make my butt look like a bubble. Hell, maybe my butt did look like a bubble now. I tried not to look at it anymore; it just depressed me. I'd have to do like a thousand squats after the baby was born, to get it toned back up. Argh.

Isabella had gotten special maternity t-shirts made for us this evening. They were black, with small white lettering that said, 'We're with the band.' I pulled the shirt over my head carefully, in an effort to not mess up my hair too badly. The t-shirt was tight-fitting, requiring me to tug it over the baby bulge. I snatched up my conservative heels from the shelf and crossed into the bedroom to sit next to Carlos on the bed so I could put them on.

"Cute," he said as he read my shirt.

Rolling my eyes, I told him, "Isabella's idea."

"How's she feeling today? Raphael left early to go check on her."

"She was better when I talked to her at noon."

"That's good," Carlos replied, as we rose and made our way downstairs to the garage.

Raphael had finally come to grips with the pregnancy, especially after they'd had a slight scare a couple of weeks after they found out. Isabella started spotting, and Raphael had gone into a panic, fearing that the stress he'd put Isabella through might have triggered the problem. The spotting ended up being of little concern, and it stopped altogether a couple of days later. But from that point on, Raphael had been so over-protective, he made Carlos look like a slacker, which he definitely was not. In fact, Isabella had called more than once to vent to me about how he constantly hovered over her, especially since she was experiencing an even worse case of morning sickness than I had. Most mornings, Raphael didn't get to work until nearly ten, because she was so sick. I didn't envy her that.

Carlos had asked me not to drive the Lamborghini anymore until the baby was born. That was just one of the little overprotective 'discussions' we'd had recently. After extensive research, he'd decided to buy a BMW X5 for me to drive, and presented to me one evening after dinner. I thought it was outrageous—and told him so—but after a little time spent in the back seat with him, I gave in. I knew no one would judge me for it, though! If he had them begging for an orgasm like I had been, they'd have given him anything to get it, too!

The Santana fundraiser was being held at a small venue near the center of downtown. Carlos and Raphael had spent the morning doing sound checks and setting up their equipment. I dropped Carlos off at the backstage entrance, with a kiss and the promise that I'd be back in less than an hour with Julie and Gavin. A meet and greet was scheduled an hour prior to the concert.

Gavin sat stoically quiet in the backseat of the SUV, while Julie talked non-stop during the drive.

"Have you met Chad, yet?" she asked anxiously.

"No."

"What about Dad? Has he? Did he say what Chad's like? Is he cool? Are any of the other guys from Nickelback here, too?"

"I guess your Dad met Carlos Santana and Chad at the sound check. We didn't have time to discuss it when he got home," I told her. Well, we'd had time, but we'd used it to express ourselves in other ways.

After parking in the back lot, we made our way through security, using the credentials Carlos had brought home with him earlier. We were shown into a small dressing room, where everyone was gathered—and I do mean everyone.

Julie grabbed my forearm in a painful grip and whispered, "Oh. My. God. It's him!"

The 'him' in question looked up at us. I think Julie stopped breathing. I was experiencing my own personal version of star-struck shock syndrome.

Carlos spoke up, making the introductions. "Carlos, Chad, this is my wife, Stephanie, daughter, Julie, and Julie's friend, Gavin."

Chad sprung out of his seat. "Hey! Nice to meet ya!"

"Hhhhiii," Julie shuddered out shyly as Chad crossed to us.

Chad shook my hand, and I managed to give him a sincere smile, saying it was nice to meet him. It was lame, but gimme a break; I was still trying to catch my breath. I'd loved his music for years, and this was the first time I'd gotten to meet a real-life, successful music star. No, Brenda, who Carlos and I had guarded years ago, didn't count in my book. She was a has been, and I'd never been a fan of hers; I still wasn't.

I could tell Julie was biting back a squeal of excitement when Chad shook her hand and casually draped his arm around her shoulders as he greeted Gavin. I asked if I could take a picture. When he agreed, they all posed together. Julie's smile could have lit up a city block in Miami.

Carlos stepped next to me and pulled me into the side of his body. He leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Come meet Carlos."

We made our way over to Carlos Santana. He was a quiet, serious man, with a warm disposition. He told us a little about his charity, which tonight's concert was benefitting. After seeing how excited this famous guitar player got about helping the less fortunate, I decided to talk to Carlos about how RangeMan could have a more personal, "hands-on" approach to helping people in our area. A lot of the employees would make excellent mentors to children, and several things sprang to mind. Carlos seemed to sense my train of thought, as was often his habit.

"Think you'd like heading up a special section of RangeMan?" he asked with interest.

I rolled my eyes. "Quit reading my mind, Batman."

"Maybe that's something you could work on while you're on maternity leave? Do some research on how we could best serve the community?"

Squeezing his hand tightly, I nodded my head. It would be a great way to still feel productive and be able to stay home with our child.

Raphael and Isabella arrived a short time later. Raphael began an animated discussion with Chad, while Julie listened intently, thoroughly enjoying watching her uncle and the rock star talk. As I watched them together, I saw a lot of similarities between the two men. They were both big kids at heart. Raphael mentioned something about taking Chad out on his boat, and they began planning a trip. Julie bounced up and down when Raphael said she could come along.

Carlos—the famous musician, not my husband—and Chad posed with us for several pictures, including a group shot of us all that one of the make-up girls took. They shared a few quick stories about some of the more humorous things that had happened to them on the road. Chad listened with interest when Raphael informed him about my celebrity status as the "Bombshell Bounty Hunter."

"I read about you once when we were doing a gig near Trenton," he said with amazement. "If I remember right, one of your cars blew up!"

I groaned.

Raphael asked, "Which one? There have been so many—including my Porsche Spider!"

Reflexively, I hit him hard in the stomach and defended myself with my classic statement. "It wasn't my fault!"

"She always says that," Raphael whispered conspiratorially to Chad.

"Because it's the truth!" I assured him. "Isn't it, Carlos?"

Carlos looked at me with just a hint of a smile. "Ironically enough, she's right, and she's a little sensitive to the title. You know how the media can be," he said to Chad.

"Who doesn't, in this business? One week, I'm an adulterer, the next, a drunk, and a week later, a junkie. None of them are true."

The stage manager stuck his head in and informed everyone that it was fifteen minutes until show time.

I turned to Carlos. "Is this where I tell you to 'break a leg'?"

"Babe."

"Yeah, you're too cool to do something like that. If either of us is going to break a leg, it'll be me."

He really wanted to roll his eyes; I could see him fighting the urge. We shared a quick kiss, and then one of the security guards showed the rest of us to our seats.

We were seated center stage a couple of rows back, and had an unobstructed view of the stage. The stage went black, and then the sound of Carlos' drums filled the air. I could feel the beat through my body, and so could the baby. It began to kick frantically. I laid my hands over my belly to help calm it.

When the lights went up, the first thing I saw was Carlos working the bongo drums, the muscles in his arms flexing. My mouth went dry, and my doohah nearly swooned at the sight. These panties were doomed. Then, when Chad began to sing the first verse of "Into the Night," my heart rate kicked up. I was on sensory overload, between hearing my favorite rock star sing and watching my husband beat out the rhythm that pulsed through the room…well, it was a lot to take in. My panties were completely ruined by the time the final beats of Carlos' drums echoed in the room.

Before the second song began, Isabella leaned over and whispered, "Oh my God, is there anything hotter than what we just witnessed?"

When I looked at her, she wasn't looking at me, but had her gaze locked on Raphael, playing side by side with Carlos Santana. My eyes slid up to meet my husband's, his strong hands tapping lightly on the drums.

"None that I can think of," I replied, as Carlos flashed me his almost smile. Yeah, he knew what the sight of him playing the drums did to me. My doodah was already chanting his name like a deranged groupie.

Raphael and Carlos joined us in the audience a couple of songs later, and several other people took the stage with Santana on stage. Some of them, I recognized, but others, I didn't.

All in all, the night was pretty incredible. After the concert ended, we got to go backstage again to party with all the performers. Julie filled a small book she'd brought along with autographs and commented about her favorite parts of the evening during the drive home.

I rested my head back as I listened to her, the visual of my favorite part playing over again in my mind. Carlos banging away on the drums! In fact, I could almost synchronize the beats of the drum with the pounding in my head. I had a killer headache. I couldn't wait to lie down. I massaged at my temple gently.

Carlos smoothed his hand down my thigh. "Babe, are you all right? You groaned."

"Oh, sorry. I've got a headache."

He studied my face for a moment, before turning his focus back to the road, but he continued to rub up and down my leg soothingly. I concentrated on that, and eventually dozed off.

When I woke back up, Julie and Gavin were gone, and we were parked in the garage at home.

The headache had gotten worse, instead of better, and now, there was a terrible ache in the upper right side of my abdomen. Bed couldn't come soon enough!

Carlos opened my door, and when I went to step out, the world began to spin rapidly, a moment before everything went black.

**TBC**

Author's note: *cue the dramatic music* Well, well, well, who saw this coming? Can't wait to see what all of you think about this turn of events! I hope you have a wonderful week! Please review. Thanks so much! See ya next Wednesday! ~Angie


	17. Flat on Your Back

**Chapter 17-Flat on Your Back**

Disclaimer:Not mine, but what I wouldn't give for a little 'quality time' with Ranger! Yum!

Author's notes: Thanks to my wonderful Beta Jenny for your continued dedication and the gift of your time for this story, not to mention the other wealth of knowledge you lend me! You are the best, Babe!

Thanks to the ever faithful Isabella, who balances friend, music critic and secretary with ease! Love ya, Babe!

I'd like to take a moment to give thanks to Anna, who helped me a lot a few chapters back. While I changed the course of the plot, I don't want you to think I didn't appreciate your effort in getting information to me and sharing your own personal story. Thanks, Babe!

Well, there were a lot of different suggestions regarding last week's plot question. I'll be reviewing them, and when time allows, I'll see about filling some of the requests! Thanks for the ideas: margaret fowler, CindyKay, samsarahi, Milenab, AmandaBabe, fairtytaleprincess03, Rangemansbabe, LilethFaire, Barb4psu, writersblock24, EEG, ty93, Tiggy318, LeiaB, forever babe and PrilC.

This chapter title is dedicated to my dear friend and co-author of the first chapter of Baby Peeks, KricketWilliams. She's flat on her back with a hip that's out of alignment. Yet, she still had her pom poms at the ready for me! Thanks, Babe, hope you feel better soon! Xoxos!

**RPOV**

Gracias a Dios (Thank God), I was already reaching out to Stephanie when she lost coconsciousness and was able to prevent her from falling to the concrete floor of the garage. Instinctively, I scooped her up in my arms, and then rushed into the house. I lay her quickly on the couch and elevated her feet. She started to come around while I was taking her pulse, and her eyes opened for a brief moment, before she snapped them shut with a groan.

"Babe?" I asked with concern.

She answered me with a question of her own. "What happened?"

"You passed out. Your pulse is a little high. I'm going to call Dr. Schwartz."

"Carlos, no," she said as she started to sit up.

I pushed her back down and shot her a look that I normally reserved for green recruits when they questioned my authority. There was no way in hell I wasn't calling the doctor. Knowing my wife wouldn't like the 'caveman' approach to handling this situation, I softened my tone and delivery.

"Babe, let's just check in with her, okay?"

"I don't want to go to the hospital," she stated firmly.

"If it's best for the baby..." I left the statement open-ended, because I was pretty sure we'd be visiting the hospital before the night was out.

Stephanie blew out a deep sigh. "This would be a lot easier if the stork just dropped the baby off at the door."

Her statement caused me to smile. "Then I'd miss seeing you grow with our child," I told her as I looked deeply into her beautiful blue eyes.

I'm not sure Stephanie really understood how that affected me. Seeing her pregnant with my child touched something deep within me, like I'd never experienced before. It was powerful. Now, the thought of something happening to her or this unborn child had me as terrified as I'd ever been in my life. Some situations couldn't be fought with brutal force or strategic planning and were simply out of your control.

After giving Stephanie a quick kiss on the forehead, I reached for my cell phone and dialed Dr. Schwartz's emergency phone number. Once I explained what had happened to the on-duty attendant, I was put through directly to the doctor.

"Good evening. This is Carlos Manoso," I said once she'd answered.

"Yes, Carlos." Her voice sounded a bit sleepy, and I realized it was nearly one in the morning. "There's a problem with Stephanie?"

"She passed out for twominutes when she went to get out of the car, and her pulse is elevated."

"Any other symptoms before or since the episode?"

"She mentioned a headache," I answered, and then looked down at Stephanie. "Is there anything else bothering you, Babe?" I asked, brushing some of her wild curls away from her face.

"My side hurts a little," she said quietly, pointing to an area on her right side.

"Yes, Dr. Schwartz. She has pain on the lower right side of her body. Below the baby."

"Okay. We need to get the baby on a fetal heart monitor and run a few tests on Stephanie. I'll meet you at the hospital in thirty minutes."

"Thank you. We'll leave now."

I closed the phone and checked my wife's expression. It was a mixture of fear and dread.

"We're going to the hospital, aren't we?"

"Yes. Just to make sure everything's all right."

I stood, and then bent down to pick Stephanie up into my arms, not willing to take the chance that she'd fall again. She rested her head against my shoulder, and by the time we'd made it to the garage, my shirt was damp from her tears. I put her in the car and bent down so I was eye level with her.

"I'm scared," she whispered. Her hands smoothed up and down the baby bump.

Clasping her hand tightly, I tried to offer some comfort. "I know. I'm scared, too. Let's try not to worry until we know what's going on, okay? If anything's wrong, we'll handle it together."

Stephanie nodded and attempted to give me a smile. It didn't reach her eyes. I wiped a few of the tears off her cheeks with my thumbs, before kissing her softly on the lips and going around to the driver's side.

The ride to the hospital was silent, each of us lost in our thoughts. I focused all my attention on remaining positive, pushing any negativity to the back of my mind.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were quickly shown to a room. The nurse informed us that Dr. Schwartz had already called ahead to give a few orders so we wouldn't have to wait. She handed Stephanie a gown, and then left us alone. I helped Stephanie change into the gown and got her comfortable on the bed, before opening the door to let the nurse know Stephanie was ready.

She gave us a smile when she entered and handed me a clipboard full of paperwork. While I read and signed the numerous documents, she placed a fetal heart monitor around Stephanie's stomach. Once she had it in position, she flipped a switch on the machine, and the room filled with the rapid beating of our baby's heartbeat, which sounded like it normally did. I was filled with relief. Stephanie relaxed noticeably, too, which was definitely a good thing.

"There we are," the nurse said cheerfully, looking at the paper tape that began rolling out of the front of the machine.

"Is the baby okay?" Stephanie asked hesitantly.

The nurse patted her shoulder as she placed an automated blood pressure cuff on Stephanie's left arm. "The heartbeat sounds strong, and the printout looks good." Her eyes flicked to the machine reading Stephanie's blood pressure. "That's a little high," she commented. "Try to relax. I'm going to let you be still for a while, and then come back to check you in fifteen minutes." Before she turned, she started to lower the volume of the fetal monitor.

I reached out a hand to stop her. "Could you leave it? It helps to hear the baby."

She nodded her head. "Sure. No problem. I'll be back in fifteen minutes, or when Dr. Schwartz arrives. Try to rest." The door closed quietly behind her, leaving Stephanie and me alone.

"It does sound normal, doesn't it?" Stephanie looked at me for reassurance.

I'd spent time listening, memorizing the pattern of the baby's heart rate using the Doppler at home, and it sounded the same to me. My fears had subsided some in concern with the baby and had switched more onto Stephanie.

"Yeah, Babe. The baby sounds good. Why don't you close your eyes?" I began massaging her temples, in an effort to ease her headache and get her to relax.

"I love your magic fingers," she moaned softly. Her voice was lazy as she spoke. "I wanted those fingers all over me earlier. You looked so _hot_ up there on stage. Of course, you always look hot to me, but God, watching you play the drums..." She hesitated in her nervous ramble.

Noticing her blood pressure had started to go back up after it had begun to fall slightly, I tried to calm her. "Shhh, be still, Stephanie." I continued to massage her head, neck, and shoulders, until her breathing slid into a slow, deep pattern.

With one hand resting on the baby and one clasping Stephanie's, I lay my head down on the side of the bed, letting the sounds that filled the room comfort me. I snapped my head up the minute I heard the approaching footsteps outside the door. A couple of seconds later, Dr. Schwartz breezed into the room.

When she noticed that Stephanie was sleeping, she gave me a wave, and then walked over to read the fetal monitor tape. She consulted the blood pressure machine and frowned. That got my full attention.

"It's high," I stated in a whisper. "What's causing it?"

Dr. Schwartz squatted down next to my chair. "Most likely the pregnancy. It's not uncommon with first time mothers. We'll run a few tests to rule out anything else, and then we'll talk about what happens next. After I get the results of the blood tests, I'll be back in. It shouldn't take long at this hour of night; the lab isn't that busy."

Surprisingly enough, it didn't, and less than an hour later, Dr. Schwartz returned to our room. Stephanie hadn't fallen back to sleep after the nurse had drawn her blood, so we'd been talking quietly while we waited for the results.

"Hello, Stephanie," Dr. Schwartz greeted. "Well, I've got some good news, and some news you're probably not going to like. Which do you want to hear first?"

"I hate when conversations start like this," Stephanie moaned. "The good news first."

"You're about to see your baby for the first time. We're going to do an ultra-sound before we release you."

"That's definitely good news. About the baby and going home." Stephanie twisted her face into a leery expression. "What's the bad news?"

"Because of the increase in your blood pressure, I'm putting you on bed rest immediately and limiting _all _physical activity." She looked first at me, and then at Stephanie, giving us a knowing look.

_That __sucks!_ my cock complained, as he prepared to take a very long nap.

"Oh my God," Stephanie exclaimed. "Better get the padded room ready. I'll be crazy in about twenty-four hours."

"Babe, it won't be _that_ bad."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Don't start lying to me now, Carlos." Her eyes flashed to the doctor. "For how long? Please don't tell me for the rest of the pregnancy, or I'll…I'll… I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pretty."

"I'm going to start off with a week-to-week basis. We'll have you monitored daily, and at the end of the week, we'll make a decision, based on how you've done. Regardless, you're not going to be able to be as active as you've been, even if I do lift the bed rest." Dr. Schwartz squeezed Stephanie's hand. "We'll give you books and pamphlets on how to pass the time and how to keep yourself from going crazy. I'm sure Carlos will help, too."

"Yes. We'll do this together, remember, Stephanie?"

She looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "You're going to lie in bed with me all day and night? You got her little dig about no sex, right?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Stephanie blushed bright red, and Dr. Schwartz laughed out loud.

"I promise, we'll figure something out, Babe. Please don't get upset."

"Let's go see your baby!" Dr. Schwartz offered as a distraction.

That sounded like an excellent idea to me. The nurse came in, unhooked Stephanie from all the machines, and then wheeled her—bed and all—down the hall to a small room where Dr. Schwartz and a tech were waiting.

The tech greeted us, before raising Stephanie's gown and squirting a gel onto her stomach.

"Geez, that's cold!" Stephanie yelped.

"Sorry," the tech said sheepishly. "I didn't have time to put it in the warmer." She flipped off the lights, took a seat on the small rolling stool, and then grabbed a hand-held device off the ultrasound machine.

"Okay, here we go," the tech stated.

The monitor attached to the wand was fuzzy, like a television channel that has gone off the air. Slowly, distorted, hard to read images began to clear, until a picture of the baby could be seen.

"Oh, Carlos… There's our baby!" Tears streaked down Stephanie's face unchecked, and I had to fight back a few myself. Our eyes locked on the vision of our child. The room was silent as we took a few minutes to stare and watch as the baby moved around within the womb.

"It's sucking its thumb. See?" Dr. Schwartz pointed to the little hand on the screen.

"Awww…" Stephanie cooed. "Isn't that adorable?"

"I'll make you a copy of this picture and a few others," the tech told us. "I'm going to begin taking some measurements and readings for the record now."

We watched as the tech measured arms and legs and various other parts of the tiny little body.

"Do you want to know the sex of the child?" the tech asked as she continued documentation.

"No!" I stated firmly.

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"Going for the surprise, huh? Well, this little person isn't making it easy for me to tell right now anyway, so it's just as well you don't want to know."

After she finished, she zoomed in on the image of the face one last time, before shutting the machine off. She handed Stephanie several black and white photos, which caused her face to crease into a big smile.

I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "We'll set these right next to the bed, so you can see them, okay?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "That'll be nice to look at."

Dr. Schwartz walked with us back to the room, and while I helped Stephanie change into her clothes, she went to get her discharge papers. The doctor spent a few minutes going over the dos and don'ts of bed rest, as I listened intently.

This was going to be a major test of Stephanie's stamina to follow this regiment. There wasn't an option, though, really; this was for her health and the continued health of our child. I had no doubt that she'd be able to do it, but it was going to require a lot work on my part, too.

During the drive home, while in my zone, I began planning the mission strategy for 'Operation Keep Stephanie Sane.' This was going to be a challenge.

**TBC**

Author's notes: Who wants to step into Ranger's office for a private consultation regarding his latest mission with Stephanie? Any takers? Of course, I'd be like, "Stephanie, who?"

Please review. It does really help inspire me to keep you entertained! Thanks! 05-24-2011, the next update for this story will post on June 1st, 2011. Have a wonderful weekend! ~Angie


	18. FanFiction Addiction

**Chapter 18-FanFiction Addiction**

Disclaimer: JE owns the characters to the Plum Series and rakes in the big bucks.

Author's notes: Well, how's everyone doing? I hope all of you are well. Real life has kicked in the turbo boosters and I feel like I'm barely hanging on. Ever felt like that? Being busy sure does put a damper on my writing. I'd like to thank everyone that continues to support me and this story!

I spent quite a bit of time pouring over the plot-players' responses to the last question. It was amazing how many of you had some of the same ideas as me or even better than what I'd come up with. I wish I could use every single idea I receive, but I'm trying desperately to bring this story to a close. Thanks so much to my fabulous players!: shoegirl01, Milenab, PrilC, LeiaB, Barb4psu, samsarahi, CindyKay, ty93, forever babe, Dark Dreamer 1982, Amanda Babe, BabeCakeLvr, EEG, at8c, Wanda 517, Ryl, time4tea, LiltheFairy and fairytaleprincess.

As always, my heartfelt thanks go out to my dear friend and sounding board, Isabella.

My very first Fanfiction friend, Cara, provided moral support and coaching for this chapter. Thanks, Babe! Xoxos!

Special thanks to my beta, Jenny, who's always there for me. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all you do for me and this story! Thanks!

**SPOV**

I blinked my eyes open, and then rubbed the grit of sleep away with my fingertips. I stifled a groan. It was day fifteen of my bed rest confinement, and it felt like forever. To be so inactive was slowly driving me insane.

Rolling to my side, I saw that Carlos was still lying in bed beside me. Things began to look up slightly.

"Good morning, Babe," he whispered in a sexy, sleep-laced voice without opening his eyes.

"Morning, Batman," I returned, and then scooted closer to him and rested my head on his chest.

Carlos' left arm wrapped around me, while his right hand rested on our child. It gave a hard kick of greeting to him, which caused us both to smile.

"Buena mañana, mi niño," Carlos said softly. (Good morning, my child) He rubbed gently on the spot, as the baby continued to give a series of kicks.

His hand left the baby bump to smooth down my hair. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, but I'm not looking forward to another day in bed. I can't wait for my next appointment with Dr. Schwartz! Hopefully, she'll end this before you have to have me committed to a facility."

Carlos laughed softly. "It's not going to come to that. You've done well so far. I'm proud of you, Babe."

"Well, better hold off on the applause, because I'm not sure how much more I can take. I've got to find better ways to pass the time. Nothing's working anymore," I complained.

"Where's the list?" Carlos asked.

I rolled back to my side of the bed and reached into the bedside table to pull out the list Carlos had composed for me the night we got home from the hospital. Mr. Planner had gotten straight to work, coming up with ideas for me to help pass the time. He'd even consulted with a website on dealing with bed rest patients. While I thought the whole thing was a little over the top, I loved him all the more for trying to make this easier on me. I handed him the paper, with some of the items already crossed off.

"You didn't like Sudoku?" he asked with a smile.

"Too complicated."

"What about this digital scrapbooking? Have you tried that?"

"Well, I thought I'd try that with Julie when she gets home from her trip next week. She and Rachel called last night, by the way. They're having a wonderful time in London."

"Yeah, she called me at work," Carlos replied distractedly as he continued looking at the list. "I thought knitting was a long shot," he said, mischief dancing in his eyes.

"I'm so not crafty like that. Can you imagine what sort of damage I could do with knitting needles?" I cringed, remembering how Grandma Plum's fingers used to fly as she knitted away on yet another afghan. Me, I'd just have a tangled mess of yarn and probably a few bleeding fingers. No thanks!

Shaking my head once more, I continued, "I've done some research on local organizations where RangeMan can volunteer time. Well, at least here in Miami and Trenton. I'm still working on the Boston area."

"That's terrific, Babe. I went over a few of your suggestions that you emailed me yesterday with Tank and Raphael. We all think that you've got some great ideas and can't wait to implement them."

"I was surprised how many places are in need of assistance. It'll be fun to give back a little. That is, if I ever get out of this bed," I groaned.

"How does a surprise sound?"

I rolled my eyes. Carlos has been surprising me every day with one thing or another. The surprises had varied from simple, to extreme. My favorite, so far, other than the couple of times where he'd spent the entire day with me in bed, was my Kindle. I loved reading on that thing! I'd never been much of a reader, but had quickly found myself hooked on the J.D. Robb "In Death" series. Roarke was so much like my husband that it was easy to fantasize about being the badass Eve to whom he was completely committed to. Oh yeah, I was hooked.

"A surprise? That sounds good. What is it today, Batman?"

"Brittany's coming here to take the pregnancy photos."

"Really? That's great! I hated that we missed our appointment a couple of weeks ago."

"I know you did, so I called her to see if she'd be able to do a shoot here, and she immediately agreed. She'll be here at noon. I thought we could have lunch together out on the deck. I know how much you enjoy her friendship."

"Thanks," I said, giving Carlos a big hug. He'd managed to have someone visit me practically every day, and it really did help pass the time. Tank and Susan had even flown down last week with the girls and spent a couple of days with us. Those days had really passed quickly!

Carlos cupped my face between his hands and brought our lips together in a passionate kiss. While I loved kissing my husband, when things got heated up like this, it only made me ache for more. I trailed my hand down the ridges and ripples of his sculpted chest, bearing due south, until I arrived at his rock hard erection. Carlos' hips bucked up in response when I wrapped my hand around the thick head and firmly stroked down. _God, I wanted him so __much, it__ bordered on a physical pain._

"Babe," he warned, as I began to kiss my way down to what I really wanted most, fueled by a need that had become unbearable. "No, you can't do this. It isn't fair to you, because I can't reciprocate. And what about keeping your blood pressure low?"

I didn't stop, just continuing on my path like a radar-guided missile.

"Stephanie," Carlos said firmly, grabbing my shoulders and effectively stopping me a few short inches from my goal. _Damn it!_

Glaring up at him, I felt the edges of rhino-mode creeping up. "Look, I _need_ this! _You_ need this." Before he could respond, I help up my hand to cut him off. "Don't bother denying it, because I'm holding solid proof right here," I told him, as I stroked hard down his length.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's my normal condition whenever you're around, Babe—even when we're having sex multiple times a day."

I let out a long groan. "Don't remind me about how often we use to have sex! I'm dying here. Please, let me do this for you. For me."

Carlos lay very still for a long time, and I watched as he fought through the decision. "Maybe we should call and ask her?"

"What? Oh great, I can just hear this now. 'Hi, Dr. Schwartz. Hey, I'm feeling pretty good today. Can I give my husband a blow job?'" I could feel heat rising to my cheeks just thinking about it.

Carlos chose the blank expression, but I knew deep down, he really wanted to roll his eyes.

"C'mon, I think she almost released me from bed rest last week, and I'm pretty sure she will this week. I'm still lying down, and I promise to stop if I start to feel bad," I nearly whined as I delivered my lust-induced sales pitch.

Silence filled the room, and I took that as acceptance on his part. _Let's see if you _stay_ that quiet, Batman._

The minute my lips closed around the tip of his cock, I moaned in satisfaction. Relaxing my throat, I slid all the way down to the base. He sucked in a deep breath and buried his fingers in my hair.

My fingers took a little journey of their own as they massaged and played with his balls, while my mouth bobbed up and down his length. _Sweet Tastykakes, did this feel good!_

Obviously, my previously hesitant husband felt the same way. "Fuck, Steph," he exclaimed, when I increased the strength of my suction.

I lost myself in giving pleasure to him. While part of me was getting wet and a little worked up, my overall feeling was that of pleasure to finally be doing something useful that gave back to Carlos.

His breath was coming in short little pants, and I knew he was close. Carlos held my head still with his hands and began to thrust up into my mouth. I relaxed and savored the feeling of him as he drove himself over the edge with a growled curse. I swallowed rapidly, taking all he had to give, and then licked up and down his partially erect cock when he finally stilled.

"Mmm," I purred, brushing some hair away from my face so that I could look up at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"I'd say I'm feeling about as good as you are right now."

Carlos gave me the full-watt smile. "Then you must feel fucking fantastic."

"Yep. That works for me."

His expression got serious, and I knew I wasn't going to like what he said. "Babe, we're not going to do this again until you're released from bed rest. It's too risky, and no matter how great it feels, it isn't worth the risk."

I murmured, "You party-pooper."

"I could always call Dr. Schwartz and ask her directly," he volunteered.

"You would," I teasingly fumed.

"Yes, I would," he agreed. "How about a bath before Brittany gets here?"

"Are you joining me?" I asked hopefully.

"There's no place I'd rather be than wet and naked with you."

"God help you when I finally get released to have sex. I'm going to be on you like a runaway train."

"Sounds great to me, Babe," he said, lifting me effortlessly from the bed and walking into the bathroom.

It was amazing what a refreshing bath and a change of scenery could do for my spirits. Of course, the little session in the bedroom hadn't hurt anything, either. I was feeling better than I had in days! My mood was definitely affecting Carlos, as well. The stresses that he'd been wearing on his face since that night in the hospital had smoothed out some. It was great to see.

Carlos had just set a tray full of lunch dishes down on the poolside table, when the doorbell rang. He dropped a quick kiss to the top of my head, before jogging off to get the door.

Brittany came out to the deck by herself a couple of minutes later.

"Hey, Steph, you look well. How are you feeling?"

"I feel better today than I have for a while. Where's Carlos?"

"He's carrying my equipment in from the car," she said, rolling her eyes. "I told him I'm used to carrying it myself, but he insisted that he do it. Personally, I think he's just giving us a little girl time before he joins us."

"Probably," I agreed.

"So bed rest, huh? That sucks! What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?"

"Different things. Carlos has a list of ideas. I've been slowly working through them. He did get me a Kindle. Do you read?" I asked.

Brittany gave me a wicked smile. "Oh yeah, I read. Ever heard of fanfiction?"

"Fanfiction? Um, no, never heard of it."

"Girlfriend, you are missing out!" Brittany exclaimed. "My favorites are _Twilight_ and _Southern Vampire_ series."

I wrinkled my nose. "Not so sure I'm into the whole blood sucking thing."

"Pleeassse, it's about a lot more than that! The sex is so hot that sometimes even _I_ blush. And trust me, I've seen and done just about it all!"

Knowing her history with Raphael, I didn't doubt her statement.

"I'm reading a series by J.D. Robb," I told her.

"Oooh, that's a great series, but there's no fanfiction for her stuff. Julie made you read the _Twilight_ series, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but I have to say, it could have used a little more spice."

"I could recommend some stories that will have you looking at Edward and Bella in a whole new light!" Brittany said confidently.

After lunch, Carlos ran upstairs to get my laptop, and while he cleared away the lunch dishes, Brittany bookmarked some stories for me to read. "I'm mainly marking _Twilight_ stories, because you've read those books, but I tend to like the _Southern Vampire_ ones a little better. Eric is hot!"

"If you say so," I returned, watching my extremely sexy husband's ass as he walked into the house. It was going to be hard to top what I had in real life.

"What about video games?" Brittany inquired. "I'm sure Carlos has Call of Duty. It seems like his type of thing."

"Actually, Lester sent down a video system and games to go with it yesterday. We haven't opened the box yet."

"Lester?" Brittany said. "The one from Raphael's party a few years ago?"

"Yes. I believe you were wearing his shirt when Carlos and I came to get them for our little skydiving adventure." I rolled my eyes.

Brittany seemed to zone out for a few minutes. I snapped my fingers directly in front of her face. She blinked and replied hazily, "Damn, did we have a good time! What's he doing these days?" she asked with interest.

"His girlfriend," I stated flatly, and then added, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

She laughed. "It's okay. I sort of left myself wide open for that one. Besides, I've got a steady guy now anyway."

"Do tell!" I encouraged.

"I'll come back in a couple of days to see what you think of the stories and to visit. Right now, I'd better get set up for the shoot. Carlos said you can only be out of bed for a short window of time and that you'd already had a busy morning."

"Busy?" I mouthed to him silently as he took a seat at the foot of my pool lounger.

Carlos picked up one of my feet and began massaging, a hint of a grin on his face.

Our photo shoot with Brittany was very different this time, with some marked similarities—mainly, me being naked for most of the shots. All my intimate areas were covered, either by Carlos' arm or gauzy pieces of material, but it would leave no doubt to the viewer that I was nude. Since the picture Brittany took of us that hung in our bedroom was still my all-time favorite, I let her do her work without complaint, knowing she'd bring an intimacy and tastefulness to each image she took.

Nearly an hour later, I was completely exhausted. Carlos noticed and immediately called a wrap to the session. The final shots had been taken in our bedroom, so I watched as they packed all the equipment away, and then carried it downstairs.

With the last case in one of her hands, Brittany walked over and sat down next to me on the bed. "I'll be back in a couple of days with the proofs and some Ben & Jerry's. Sound like a plan?"

"You'll have to sneak it in when Carlos isn't here, and take it with you when you leave. Since I haven't been able to exercise, he's been really anal about not letting me have high-fat food."

"Isn't he always a little bit like that?"

"Yeah, but it's been worse since I got pregnant. It's okay, because I know he's right, and so far, my weight has stayed in the healthy range. It'll be easier to get it off after the baby that way, though I don't mind indulging every so often. Can you bring Clusterfluff? That's their newest flavor, and I love it!"

"Clusterfluff it is! See ya in a couple days," she called as left the room.

Carlos entered a few minutes later. "What is Clusterfluff?" he asked.

"Huh?" I stifled a yawn, hoping to throw him off course. I didn't see any reason for him to know mine and Isabella's new 'fix' on pregnancy cravings. "I don't know what you're talking about." I let the lie roll off my lips, reasoning it would be better for him to remain in the dark.

"You're lying," he growled into my ear, before nibbling gently on the lobe.

"What I _am_ is tired," I said as a distraction. "Think I need a nap. I've been very _busy_ today."

Carlos laughed. "Yes, you have, Babe, and I'm going to let the Clusterfluff subject ride, because I already found the evidence of it in the trash compactor after Isabella's last visit."

"I told her to take the container with her!" I quietly fumed, giving Carlos my best puppy dog eyes.

"I love you, Stephanie," he said with a smile. "Get some sleep."

**RPOV**

I took the stairs two at a time up to our bedroom. Stephanie usually called several times a day to talk to me, and today, she hadn't called once! Worried that something was wrong, I'd called her to check in twice, and she'd seemed distracted both times. Knowing how she liked to slip into denial when something went wrong, I began to worry that she was having a problem and wasn't telling me. After the second distracted phone call, I decided to come home and check on her myself.

Busting into the bedroom, I found the bed empty. Panic began slowly weaving its way under my skin.

"Stephanie?" I called out.

"Carlos? What are you doing home this early? I'll be out in a minute."

Hearing the toilet flush, I sat down on the bed to wait for her to join me. Walking to and from the bathroom was the only activity she was allowed, so I chose to wait until she opened the door before I decided if I needed to intercede and carry her back to bed.

I noticed that her laptop screen was still lit, so she hadn't been out of bed long. That was good. My eyes skimmed the document she had pulled up, thinking it was an article of some type. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth! It was a vividly described sex scene with some guy named Edward and a woman named Bella. What the fuck?

The door to the bathroom opened, and I pulled my eyes away from the screen, to see my wife wearing the classic 'deer in the headlights' look when she noticed what I'd been reading.

"Babe?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow northward.

"Hi!" She gave me an innocent finger wave and began crossing the room to the bed.

"Care to explain?" I asked as she climbed into bed.

"No. Not really," she answered honestly. "I wasn't expecting you home this soon."

"Are you feeling okay? You seemed distracted on the phone."

"I was reading," she replied simply.

"This?" I motioned to computer.

Her face blushed bright red. "Yes! This! It's so hot! Damn Brittany for getting me addicted to this stuff!"

"Stephanie, it's like a porn movie in story form."

"Hey, fictional sex is as good as it gets for me these days!" she defended irritably.

I couldn't stop myself. I busted out laughing. Stephanie popped me hard in the arm.

"It isn't funny. You'd get all wound up, too, if you read this!"

"Babe, I don't need to read anything to get wound up. All I have to do is think about how you look right before you come, and I'm there."

_Uh __huh_, my cock added in agreement as it sprung to life, making my pants uncomfortably tight.

Stephanie gave me a skeptical look, but refrained from comment.

"Want to hear some good news?"

"Anything that changes this subject," Stephanie said as she slapped her computer closed.

"Dr. Schwartz has a cancelation and can see us at four thirty. I took the appointment."

Stephanie reached for her cell phone. "I must have missed the call when I was in the bathroom."

"You should take the phone with you, in case you had a problem, Stephanie," I gently scolded.

"I know. I'm sorry, I forgot. Hopefully, after this appointment, I won't have to spend so much time in bed!"

"Babe, don't get your hopes up. I'd hate to see you disappointed again."

"I'll try," she promised, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

Promptly at four thirty, Dr. Schwartz entered the exam room, wearing a huge smile. "Hello, Stephanie, Carlos," she greeted. "I'm pleased with the results of the tests noted in your chart, including your blood pressure reading. How are you feeling?" she asked Stephanie.

"I feel good, and I'm definitely ready to get off bed rest!"

"I'm sure you are," Dr. Schwartz agreed. "Let's have a listen to the baby and do an internal exam, and then we'll discuss that."

Stephanie nodded her head and sent me a brilliant smile. So far, this was the most positive visit we'd had since she was placed on bed rest. A short while later, Dr. Schwartz pulled off her gloves and sat down on her rolling stool.

"Okay, everything looks really good today, and I'm going to lift the bed rest restriction."

"Yes!" Stephanie exclaimed, throwing her fist in the air.

Dr. Schwartz held up hand in warning, but still wore a smile. "You still need to take it easy, and I want you to spend several hours a day with your feet up. Too much activity will land you right back on bed rest, and next time, it'll be for the duration of your pregnancy. Okay?"

"We want what's best for the baby, and of course, Stephanie. What sort of activities should she do or avoid?" I asked.

"Short walks on the beach would be fine, though I'd prefer if she was accompanied during those. Nothing more physical than that. No lifting anything more than ten pounds. Try to limit trips up and down the stairs."

There was a long silence in the room. I could read Stephanie's mind. It was chanting, _What about sex? What about sex?_

The doctor must have been tuned to Stephanie's channel, too, because she gave us a big smile and said, "Sex is okay, as long as it doesn't include acrobatics."

"So much for that position Edward had Bella in," Stephanie murmured under her breath.

I stifled a bark of laughter. Stephanie's startled eyes darted to mine. I said softly, "Out loud."

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, I didn't hear what you said," Dr. Schwartz said intently.

Stephanie waved off the doctor. "Oh, it was nothing important."

"Okay, well, if there aren't any other questions, I'll see you both next week. Please, take it easy Stephanie, and don't overdo it," she advised.

"Thank you!" Stephanie smiled, and the doctor squeezed her hand before she left.

"Take me home, Carlos," Stephanie purred, after she finished getting dressed. "I want you inside me within the next thirty minutes!"

**TBC**

Author's notes: Is it getting hot in here? Pretty sure it's about to be in the Manoso household! ;) Stephanie suffers from a touch of FanFiction Addiction in this chapter. Have you ever suffered from that aliment? I know I have! LOL!

I figure two more chapters to go and this story (and the Wishes Series) will draw to a close. It's been a fun ride! Your review is the only payment fanfiction author's receive. Please take a moment to review. Thanks so much! See ya next Wednesday! ~Angie


	19. Time to Go

**Chapter 19-Time to Go**

Disclaimer: Yeah, the Plum characters are still JE's, but boy what I could do with them if they were mine... Smokin' Seventeen would definitely be HOT! LOL.

Author's notes: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed or PM'd me over the course of this story and my writing career here on FF. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This is the final shout out to my beloved, awesome and devoted plot-players. Thanks to all of you that have played along, especially the following who responded to the final question: CindyKay, forever babe, Milenab, LeiaB, BuffaloWoman, Barb4psu, concetta33, FairTaxGirl, AmandaBabe, Wanda517, leahsgramma, rangergirl1234, shoegirl01, Dikent, financebabe, margaret fowler, janetfan150, samsarahi, Pril C and lilethfaire.

Two very special people have been on my mind a lot this past week, and I wanted to let Mari and Kricket know that I'm praying for you! I hope life is better for you both very soon!

Sometimes I can be a real pain...yeah, I know that's hard to believe! LOL. I'd like to thank Isabella for her very sound advice this past week, and honestly, through both Best Wishes and Baby Wishes. She is a wonderful, flour-hating woman that keeps me grounded-plus she promised to have Clusterfluff ice cream waiting for me when I visit her house in a month. Is she great or what?

I'd also like to thank Cara for her cheerleading. She's gotten good at it through the years with me. Thanks, Babe! Xoxos!

Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks to my very talented beta, Jenny. I don't know what I'd do without you, Babe! Thanks for everything!

**SPOV**

Life had been a whirlwind of activity since I'd been freed from my bed rest imprisonment. I reflected on the various events as I reclined against the arm of the couch on the private jet bound for Trenton.

Carlos had been so overprotective that first week the bed rest was lifted, sure that even a little extra activity would land me right back in bed. We'd had a couple of squabbles as I fought for some independence. Reluctantly, he'd eased up a bit, but still watched my every move like a hawk.

We'd taken our final trip before the baby was born to our island, accompanied by Bobby and his new wife, Cara. I'd wanted desperately to go to the island for a few days, and the only way I could get Carlos to agree was if we had someone with medical training along. Since Tank and Susan had visited when I was first put on bed rest, Bobby volunteered to accompany us. Of course, it didn't seem like much of a hardship for him, being able to take his new bride to a private island for a long weekend—especially since I never required medical attention during the visit.

It was weird, and a little unnerving, to stand next to my husband as we pulled away from our island, knowing that the next time we docked at the pier, we'd be parents and bringing our child with us.

Carlos had sensed my mood accurately and had leaned into me, wrapping his strong arms around me. After he placed a gentle kiss to my temple, he whispered, "We'll always be together, Babe, and have time for us. This child,"—he stopped to caress the baby bump—"will only bring us closer."

I had to agree with him. As the birth of our baby drew nearer, our relationship had taken on a closer, and if possible, deeper meaning. There wasn't anyone else on the face of the Earth that I wanted to have a baby with. Carlos was my perfect match.

Isabella, who was seated to my right, nudged my shoulder as she thumbed through a flyer from a Miami baby store, where we'd both dropped a ton of cash. "What do you think about this one?" she asked.

I considered the giraffe motif nursery ensemble. "It's cute, but I thought you'd be looking at something a little more girly."

Raphael and Isabella had found out, just a few days ago, that they were expecting a little girl. While Raphael seemed ecstatic about the news, I couldn't help but tease him about how he wasn't increasing the 'Manoso male' side of the family, as he'd been so adamant about when he learned I was pregnant.

He'd given me a cocky grin and said, "Next time."

Isabella had gasped in surprise, because they'd really been considering just having one child. "Next time?"

"Yeah, next time. There is nothing sexier than seeing you pregnant, and I don't want our daughter to be lonely. She'll need a sibling."

Carlos and I had recently had a similar conversation about having an only child. He loved his big family, and if I was honest with myself, I did, too. Sure, Raphael and I had butted heads on more than one occasion, but he'd been a rock for me when I needed him to be, as well. All in all, he was a great big brother. And of course, I enjoyed my relationships with Carlos' sisters, too. There were always a lot of laughs when we all got together.

Yeah, big families were great, but I planned to withhold my verdict about another child until after the delivery, especially since I'd decided to do the whole thing with little to no help from any drugs. I must have been suffering from a few moments of insanity when I'd made that decision. Seriously, though, it was something I wanted to at least try, instead of carte blanche going straight for the drugs. Carlos had insisted that we attend the class and complete the necessary paperwork for having an epidural, just in case I changed my mind.

Carlos' strong voice came across the cabin's speakers. "Buckle up, ladies. We're on final approach."

Isabella and I fastened our seatbelts, and twenty minutes later, the guys emerged from the cockpit. Carlos came straight for me to help me get off the couch. It was an event, as my sense of balance was completely off, with the baby sticking out so far in front of me, added to the fact that I'd been sitting for nearly three hours in the same position. I scooted to the edge of the couch, and Carlos grabbed both of my hands to tug me up to a standing position. Once I was upright, he wrapped his arm around me.

"Okay?" he asked, smoothing down my tight-fitting maternity shirt over the baby bump.

"Yep. We're good," I replied, and started for the door to exit the plane.

At the base of the ramp, the guys all waited for us.

"Damn, Beautiful," Lester exclaimed when I got to the final stair. "You're huge!"

Tank immediately slugged Lester in the stomach, saving me the effort. "You ass. You don't say something like that to a woman."

Lester rubbed gently at his stomach and gave me a pathetic little smile. "Sorry. What I meant to say is you look sexy and hot."

Lester was doubled over again, as this time, Carlos planted his fist in Lester's center.

"Damn, dude, you'd better shut the hell up," Bobby advised, as he stepped up to me, placing a kiss to the center of my forehead and asking me how I felt.

"Actually, I feel great—better than I have in weeks. I've had so much energy lately."

"Ranger, you'd better get ready. Susan called that the 'nesting phase,' and two days after she had that little burst of energy, we were welcoming our daughter into this world," Tank said, a huge smile on his face.

"Tank, my due date's three weeks away yet," I told him.

He held his hands up in the surrendering gesture. "I'm just sayin'."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I made my way to the Hummer they'd bought to take us back to RangeMan.

Since Raphael was along, and this was going to be the last trip to Trenton for us for a while, the guys had scheduled several meetings with the larger accounts to address any needs or concerns with them in person, which left Isabella and me on our own for lunch.

We both been on a huge pizza craving kick, and I'd always raved about Pino's, so we decided to go there. We'd just finished our salads and were waiting on the pizza, when I had to make the first—of several—trips to the bathroom. I swear this baby used my bladder as a trampoline.

I was waddling back to our booth, just as Joe walked into the restaurant. His eyes widened when he saw me. He quickly made his way over.

"Cup…err, Steph, wow, it's been a long time."

"Yes, it has. How are you, Joe?"

He looked down at his feet and toed at a straw wrapper that had fallen off a passing busboy's tray. "I've been better, but you don't want to hear about that. Shit, I hadn't heard you were pregnant."

Letting out a nervous giggle, I rested my hand protectively on the baby bump. "Yeah, just under a month to go!"

"Whoa. Well, you look good. Has it been hard?"

"It's been pretty easy, if you don't count three weeks of bed rest and the constant cravings. Like pizza, for example—thus, why we're here."

"Is Ranger with you?" Joe scanned the restaurant for Carlos.

"He's at RangeMan. I'm here with my friend, Isabella, Carlos' brother's wife," I said, motioning toward the table I was sharing with her.

"Is she pregnant, too?" Joe asked, looking over to Isabella as she waved back at us.

His question had me laughing out loud. "Yes. She's two months behind me. What can I say? It must be in the Miami water."

Joe gave me a crooked grin. "You do realize you don't get pregnant from the water, right?"

"Really?" I said with surprise, and we both shared a laugh.

Joe shook his head slightly. "Never thought I'd see Ranger toting a diaper bag or pushing a stroller."

I gave a little chuckle as I envisioned Carlos carrying a pink diaper bag over his shoulder. Nah, that would never happen. The diaper bag we'd picked out was black, of course. Carlos' rational was that black was neutral and would work for either a boy or a girl. Personally, I think Carlos just had some obession with black, though he didn't wear it as much in Miami.

"Yeah, I could see where you'd have a hard time picturing that, but Carlos will take it all in stride. He always does." _And looks freakin' hot while he's at it, _though I didn't share that thought with Joe. I decided a change of subject might be best.

"How's your daughter? She's got to be a little over three now?"

"Yes, she starts Pre-K in the fall."

There were a couple moments of uncomfortable silence between us, before the pizza was delivered to our table.

"Pizza's here. I should go," I told Joe. "I'm starving."

"It was good to see you, Stephanie," Joe said softly.

We exchanged a brief and awkward hug before he made his way back to the bar.

**RPOV**

Raphael and I were discussing our earlier business meeting on the drive back to Trenton from Newark, while our wives dozed in the back seat. It had been a full day for all of us. I pulled to a stop in the garage, and then got out to help Stephanie from the Cayenne.

The elevator made a brief stop on four, and Raphael and Isabella told us goodnight as they left the elevator. I pulled Stephanie against my front, and we rode to seven in our usual elevator pose.

The doors opened, but Stephanie didn't move. She tipped her head back and lightly kissed my jawline. "This is our last night on seven before we become parents together…let's make it memorable," she purred in a sexy voice.

_Oh hell, yes!_ my cock agreed.

"Babe," I growled, picking her up and carrying her from the elevator.

I put her down right next to the bed and began removing her clothes.

When her shirt hit the floor, Stephanie groaned. "I bet this sexy white cotton maternity bra is really turning you on, huh?"

Stephanie's breasts had nearly doubled during the pregnancy. That turned me on, along with seeing her swollen with my child. I cupped her face between my hands and looked deep into her beautiful, blue eyes. "I have _always_ found you sexy, from the first moment I met you in the diner, to right now. That feeling will never change. It just grows stronger."

"Carlos…" she murmured, bringing her lips to mine.

Our lips merged together in a kiss that was gentle and loving. I softly sucked on her bottom lip, before delving into the inner recesses of her mouth. Our tongues tangled together, and each of us gave ourselves over to the passion of the kiss, neither in a hurry to push any further.

When we finally separated, I rested my forehead against hers briefly, before beginning a slow trail of kisses down her face. I nibbled lightly on her earlobe, and then continued kissing until I reached where her neck and should met. This was one of her most sensitive areas. I bit softly. She moaned and buried her fingers in my hair.

With deft fingers, I made quick work of the front closure to her bra. I tossed it over my shoulder without looking and weighed each of her breasts, trying to decide which one to sample first. I chose the right one. I continued to fondle the left one as I settled my mouth on the tight bud of her darkened and enlarged nipple. _Fuck, she'd never tasted sweeter._ I sampled at her left nipple and found it to be equally delicious.

I felt my desire for her kick up exponentially. I needed her completely naked right now! I gave her pants and panties a sharp tug, and they fell around her ankles.

Stephanie stepped out of them, and I helped her lay back onto the bed. She watched me undress with hungry eyes. Instead of crawling up next to her, I knelt beside the bed and draped each of her legs over my shoulder.

"Hey, no fair, I can't see you now. The baby's in the way!"

"You don't need to see, Babe. Just feel."

With one long stroke, I licked from her moist center, all the way up to her tight nub.

"Ooooh, God," she moaned, and her hips bucked up in reflex.

I gently held her in place with one hand wrapped around her thigh, while two fingers of my other hand slid into her velvety softness. She was so wet. I sucked tightly on her bundle of nerves with my mouth and increased the pace of my fingers. It wasn't long before her first orgasm arrived.

Stephanie screamed out in pleasure, and my cock twitched in response.

_My turn!_ it demanded.

Getting my pregnant wife into a sexual position that was comfortable and didn't put too much pressure on her back or the baby had become a challenge. But then, I'd never backed down from a challenge, and we'd found several positions that worked well for us. Tonight, I wanted to use our two favorite ones.

After one last parting kiss to her extremely wet pussy, I reached up to grab the pillows tucked under the comforter. Stephanie realized quickly where I was going with this and rolled to her side. I positioned the pillows, and then helped her onto her knees, with her forearms resting on the bed.

I knelt behind her and took my cock in my hand to stroke it up and down her folds several times, before placing it at her hot center. Slowly, I eased inch by inch into the tight channel of her pussy, until I was buried to the hilt. I savored the moment and reached up to clasp one of her hands in mine, before I began a slow, pleasure-building rhythm. I let just the tip of cock remain inside her, and then pushed forward gently, until I couldn't go any farther. It was erotic to watch my body slid into hers, and I allowed myself the pleasure for several long minutes, while Stephanie panted and moaned out her own appreciation of the feeling.

Time ticked by without notice. After Stephanie flew over the edge for the second time, I decided to change positions. When I pulled out of her body, she whimpered in protest.

"Shhh, just moving us around, Babe."

I helped her lay on her left side, placed a pillow under the baby bump to ease the pressure on her lower back, and then I spooned my body with hers. She lifted her right leg slightly, allowing me to drape my leg between hers. My cock found its target with no help from either of us, and I surged up in a powerful stroke.

Stephanie reached back and grabbed my ass in a fierce grip, her nails digging into my skin. Without breaking the tempo of the thrusts, I kissed at her neck and traced circles around her clit. My balls tightened in warning of impending release.

"Come for me. Now," I growled into her ear.

She held her breath for a moment, and then I felt her walls begin to clench around my cock, and she let go with a shouted, "Oh, yes!"

"Stephanie!" I roared, as her body threw mine into climax.

We lay, sweating and sated, for a good twenty minutes. I rubbed random patterns on her belly and occasionally felt an answering kick beneath my hand. Stephanie was starting to drift off to sleep, so I separated myself from her body and went to the bathroom for a wash cloth and towel. I quickly wiped the evidence of our love making away. Once I'd patted her dry, I helped her move around so she was lying correctly in bed—again, with one pillow propped under the baby.

By the time I'd returned from the bathroom, after I'd cleaned myself up, she was already sleeping. That didn't stop me from rubbing the cocoa butter on the skin of her belly, as had become my custom every night since she'd told me she was pregnant.

Once that job was complete, I dropped a kiss goodnight to her belly and whispered, "Le veré pronto, mi niño." (I will see you soon, my child.)

After placing a soft kiss to Stephanie's lips, I went around the bed and crawled in behind her, spooning my body up close to her back.

She squirmed around a little bit, and then settled with a murmured, "Love you."

"Love you, too, Babe," I whispered, even though I knew she'd already drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke to Stephanie moaning…and not in the pleasurable way. She was in pain. I instantly bolted up in bed with concern and wondered for a moment if she was going into labor.

It appeared that she wasn't fully awake, but had one hand pressed against her lower back. I replaced her hand with mine and began a slow massage to the area. The moaning stopped within a minute or two. I hated to wake her, but I needed to make sure that we didn't need to get to the hospital.

I placed a gentle kiss directly below her ear. "Babe, are you okay?"

There were several beats of silence, and I was just about to ask again, when she answered, "Yeah, why?"

"You were moaning and holding your lower back. Does anything else hurt?"

"No, my back is just sore—probably from laying too long in one position," she said, rolling so that she was flat on her back.

I slid a pillow under her knees. "Maybe we should go to the hospital, just to make sure."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Carlos, that isn't necessary. I don't think I moved once last night! That has to be some sort of record for the last few weeks. Normally, I toss and turn and make at least one trip to the bathroom. I feel great!"

"Okay," I responded, checking her expression carefully. "Promise me you'll let me know if the pain gets any worse?"

"You'll be the first to know," she said, patting my forearm. "Now, help me get up, please. The baby has begun its jumping routine on my bladder, and I'm in desperate need of the bathroom!"

The main purpose for our trip was for a baby shower that Mary Lou and Isabella had organized here in Trenton. They'd decided with both of our families living in this area, it would be easier to have it here.

We pulled to the front of the banquet facility where it was being held. I left the engine running and went around to help Stephanie from the Cayenne. I walked her to the door and prepared to kiss her goodbye.

"Where are you going?" she asked with surprise.

"Back to RangeMan," I replied.

"I don't think so," Raphael responded, stepping up behind me and placing his arm around my shoulders.

I looked from him to Stephanie, willing one of them to clue me in on exactly what was going on.

"It's a couple's baby shower," Stephanie said.

"You know," Raphael added. "We all get to sit around and guess how many jelly beans are in the baby bottle, ooh and ah over all the cute gifts, and play word searches about baby things."

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" I asked Raphael.

Stephanie burst out laughing. "Raphael, knock it off. Carlos, it isn't going to be _that_ bad."

"Babe."

"Just park the car. If you feel your testosterone level dip to an uncomfortable level at any time, you can leave," Stephanie promised.

I gave her a serious look, before running around to the driver's side and parking the Cayenne.

By eleven hundred, the room had filled up. I was surprised to see my dad and Frank had been invited, as well.

"Do you know what the hell is going on here today?" Frank whispered to me over his beer.

"Not a clue," I responded with all seriousness.

"Well, if you sound the retreat, your dad and I are right behind you, son."

"Good to know."

Isabella stood in the middle of the room and clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

The room fell quiet, expect for the whispering between Lester and his girlfriend, Tracy. I kicked his chair in warning.

"Good morning, everyone," Isabella greeted. "Thanks for coming and celebrating the upcoming birth of Carlos and Stephanie's child."

Everyone broke out in applause.

"When Mary Lou and I decided to make this a couple's baby shower, we took into consideration the type of men that would be attending, and planned accordingly. This isn't going to be a typical shower, ladies." Isabella began to lay out the schedule of events.

First up was an eating contest of all the foods Stephanie had craved during her pregnancy. Lula won that round and was awarded all the remaining food as her gift.

Next up, we were led out to the back parking lot, where all the men were challenged to: unbuckle a baby doll from the brand new car seat that had been installed in the back of the Cayenne, unfold the stroller, which was stored in the back hatch, secure the baby doll in the stroller, race to the end of the parking lot and back, and then put everything back the way it was when they started.

Lester was first up, it took him an insane amount of time to get the surprisingly life-like doll out of the car seat and the guys all shouted insults, which he answered with a salute from his middle finger.

He was racing back to the Cayenne on the return trip from the end of the parking lot, when the doll fell out of the stroller and bounced once on the pavement.

"Duh, duh, duh," Raphael sang the 'loser's theme' for most game shows. "You lose and the baby's got to go to the hospital now."

Everyone roared with laughter.

I leaned towards Stephanie. "He's never babysitting for us!"

"I heard that," Lester said as he stomped up next to us. "I'm going to win the next round."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder. "We still love you, but Carlos is right. You're never watching out child by yourself," she teased.

Tank was up next, and I watched him carefully, because I knew he had the most experience of any of us with this sort of thing. The stroller was what gave him the most trouble. Luckily, I'd practiced several times in the store with the type of stroller we'd picked out, and I knew how to fold it back down quickly. There was a trick. That knowledge won me that round in the competition.

We went back inside, where Mary Lou and Isabella had assembled several baby dolls around the room, with cloth diapers lying next to each of them.

"Okay. This is a couple's event. The ladies strip the diaper off. Once removed, the men have to put it back on correctly, and then hold the doll up when they're done to make sure the diaper doesn't fall off. Ready?" she asked. "Begin!"

"Damn," Frank cursed a minute later from my right side. Stealing a quick glance in his direction, I saw him sucking his thumb in his mouth, where he'd stuck it with a pin.

Raphael was the first to hold his doll up, but the diaper fell right off onto the table. "Shit!" he exclaimed.

"Which is what you'll be wearing, if you don't learn to put a diaper on your child better than that," Stephanie teased, and then urged me to hurry.

Lester held his doll up a second before I did, and surprisingly, the diaper stayed on.

"Well, we have a winner," Mary Lou said. "And look, it's the only single guy in the place!"

"Not for long," Lester announced, and the room fell silent. All eyes tracked to him and Tracy. He held up her left hand, which revealed a large diamond ring.

"I'll be damned," Bobby murmured. "Never thought I'd see him married."

Me, either, but I kept the comment to myself. We all took a few minutes to congratulate them, before lunch was served. After we ate, Stephanie opened the gifts.

One of the first gifts she opened was a knitted sweater and hat that Helen and Edna had made. I could tell that Stephanie was really touched by the personal gift. The final gift, Stephanie opened had eyes welling up again, when she saw the handmade quilt my mother had made for our child.

"Oh, Mama, it's beautiful," Stephanie cried, clutching it to her chest.

I walked over and placed a kiss on my mother's cheek. "Gracias, Mama."

"You're welcome, Carlos. I can't wait to see your child wrapped in it."

The cargo compartment of the jet was completely stuffed on our return trip to Miami. Raphael and Isabella followed us home, and he helped me carry everything up to the nursery, while the ladies made a quick dinner. We shared several laughs as we looked at the pictures Isabella had downloaded onto her laptop from the baby shower.

After they left, I went to my office to quickly check emails, and Stephanie went upstairs to begin sorting through all the gifts. I found her sitting in the chair with her feet up, looking at the mural behind the baby's bed.

"She did a nice job, didn't she?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes," I agreed.

Michelle had stayed with the artist who'd done the mural yesterday, while we were in Trenton. I didn't want Stephanie or the baby around the paint fumes.

All in all, the room looked exactly like we'd planned. The dark cherry sleigh bed stood out against the grey walls and cream-colored furniture.

Stephanie stifled a yawn behind her hand.

"C'mon, Babe. It's been a long day, and you should get to bed. This can wait until tomorrow."

I helped her get out of the chair and was surprised when she didn't begin walking. Instead, she gripped her belly, and her eyes went wide.

"We might be busy tomorrow, Batman," she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I think my water just broke."

The puddle at her feet confirmed it.

**TBC**

Author's note: SPECIAL ALERT! IF everything goes my way, the next and final chapter of this story MIGHT be posted on Sunday, June 12th...my 40th birthday. Argh. I thought it might be poetic justice to end this series on my birthday, since the very first story I wrote for FF revolved around Ranger and Stephanie's birthdays.

If it doesn't hit the board on Sunday, it'll be up Wednesday for sure! As always, thanks for your support. I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have entertaining you! 'See' ya soon, ~Angie


	20. A Baby Wish Comes True

**Chapter 20-A Baby Wish Comes True**

Disclaimer: These wonderful characters belong to JE. She currently has a poll of her Facebook page on who Stephanie should end up with in the books. Wanna guess who's winning? Think she'll listen to her readers? Hmm.

Author's notes: There are soooo many people I'd like to thank. I am very fortunate to be 'surrounded' by supportive friends both near and far.

I'm going to start with the person I usually thank last before the chapter begins, my Beta, Jenny (Jenrar). She does such a wonderful job on my chapters. She's quick, efficient, and a terrific friend to boot. Thank you for all the time and effort you've put into my stories. I'm truly grateful and in your debt.

Next up, my dear friend, Isabella. She's been a true friend with an open line of contact any time. Her support has helped boost me up at the low points of my writing, and that's just the start. She's also provided sage advice on any number of real-life scenarios, and encouraged me to get into better health. I love you, Babe. Thanks for everything!

On to Cara, my first FanFiction friend. We've shared the ups and downs, haven't we, Babe? I treasure your friendship and support. Thanks for all you've done for me over the years of our friendship! Love ya!

Finally, all my reviewers and plot-players. THANK YOU! You are the reason I write. Your support, through reviews and PMs, is what kept me motivate through both Best Wishes and Baby Wishes. There are a few of you that I've gotten even closer to and communicated with regularly over the last couple months. You know who you are, and thanks for your friendship!

Oh, the winning plot-player's baby name suggestion for the Manoso baby is actually two people. Thanks goes to EEG and Wanda517. Man, it was a really tough choice! I actually had a different one picked out than the one it ended up being, but my muse took a left turn and chose its own.

Yes, today is my 40th birthday. Thanks to all of you that sent me 'Birthday Wishes' *grin*, especially Eva, Pril and Leia. I achieved my goal of completing this story on my birthday and here it is. I hope you enjoy!

**SPOV**

_Ewww!_ I was soaking wet from the waist down.

"We should call the doctor," Carlos said with an unusual hint of anxiety in his tone.

"Shower first," I demanded. There was no way I was going anywhere or doing anything until I cleaned up!

"Babe."

"No. In the literature they sent home from birthing classes, it said as long as the contractions weren't less than five minutes apart, a shower was okay. I _want_ a shower."

"Contractions? Are you having contractions? I'm supposed to be keeping track of those!"

"Carlos!" I snapped. "I'm not having any contractions. I'm fine. Chill, okay? I don't need you flipping out on me. I'm scared enough for the both of us."

Carlos arched one eyebrow northward. "I don't 'flip out,' Stephanie."

I didn't fight the eye roll. "Whatever. Shower, please?"

He started to pick me up to carry me into the bathroom, but I held up a restraining hand. "Don't. You'll get wet, too. I can walk."

"Babe, we're in this together. I don't care if I get wet, because I'm planning on showering with you anyway. Please, let me do what I can."

Like I could resist when he used that word—not to mention the pleading look in his rich dark chocolate eyes. I nodded my head in acceptance. Really, having a devoted husband and soon-to-be father of your child wasn't a bad thing, right? There was no doubt in my mind that some men would run screaming in the other direction when things got tough. That definitely wasn't Carlos' style.

He scooped me up into his arms, as if I was the most precious cargo in the world. My heart felt lighter, and I took a deep calming breath. Everything was going to be okay; soon, we'd be welcoming our child into this world. What a heady feeling.

Once we arrived into the bathroom, Carlos helped me peel the wet clothes from my body, and then turned on the shower, before grabbing each of us a towel and stripping his own clothes off quickly. I stood under the warm water and tried to relax.

Carlos slid his arms around me from behind and rested his palms flat over the baby. That was when I felt the first contraction. It felt liked a belt cinching too tight around my stomach. It didn't hurt, per se, but it wasn't comfortable, either.

"Babe?" Of course Carlos had also felt the tightening of my stomach muscles and was concerned.

"I'm pretty sure that was the first contraction."

"Okay, twenty-o-seven," Carlos said aloud, after consulting the wristwatch that he was never without. "How's the pain?"

"That was nothing. It was quick, too. We've got time." I was channeling my 'inner Ranger,' because those labor and delivery videos we'd had to watch during birthing class had suddenly taken on a new meaning to me and felt _very _real.

The shower had helped ease my anxiety level some, and neither of us seemed to be in a big hurry to leave the pelting of the warm water on our bodies. Carlos lowered his lips to mine for a tender kiss. When his tongue probed softly, I granted access without hesitation. Our tongues tangled together. With his hands buried in my hair, he tipped my head back, and then tilted his to deepen the kiss. We lost each other in the moment, and it seemed the most natural thing to do.

This child had been conceived in love and would be welcomed with love. Unlike my childhood, this child would be able to see and witness the love shared between his or her parents and would never doubt our commitment to one another.

When we separated to take some much needed breaths, I smiled warmly up at Carlos. "I love you," I stated simply.

Carlos' strong, sexy mouth curved up at the corners. "You say that now," he teased. "But at some point in the next twenty-four hours, you'll probably be threatening to cut my dick off."

"No way!" I contradicted him, though I had heard stories of women threatening all sorts of bodily harm on fathers of their children. "That would be crazy! Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to make it six weeks without sex."

"We've gone four weeks before," he said, reminding me of the pre-wedding deal.

"Yeah, and look how that turned out! We spent nearly a week naked, having sex on practically every flat surface on the yacht."

His smile got bigger. "And that's a problem?"

"This is _six_ weeks, and there'll be three of us in the family, instead of two."

"Sounds like the perfect time to introduce our child to life at sea."

"What?"

"How about after your six week check-up, we pack up the baby and set sail for a week? Just the three of us…and lots of sex while the baby sleeps."

"Hmm," I contemplated, tapping my fingernail thoughtfully against my lower lip. My thoughts were interrupted by the next contraction. "Ooh," I yelped. This one was stronger than the last and had caught me by surprise—partially because I'd become distracted by the images of our honeymoon that were flashing before my eyes.

Carlos' hands rested over my stomach again and waited to speak until the contraction had passed. "It's been about thirty minutes. Let's get dressed and call the doctor."

I chose a light-weight sundress to wear to the hospital, because it was comfortable and made me feel more feminine. Carlos led us out to the balcony of our bedroom, where we were greeted by the warm ocean breeze and the beautiful starlit night. He knew this was my favorite place to sit in the whole house. Once I was comfortable on one of the loungers, he placed the call to Dr. Schwartz.

"Good evening, Doctor. It's Carlos Manoso. Stephanie's water broke at nineteen thirty-four."

I rolled my eyes at his use of military time, though it did sound as if he was giving a report.

"Yes, they're thirty minutes apart." Their conversation lasted a few minutes longer, and then Carlos told her he'd call her back when we were ready to leave for the hospital.

A gust of wind blew my hair into my face. Carlos leaned down and brushed it back, tucking several stands behind my ear, before placing a tender kiss to the center of my forehead. I scooted a little to my right, allowing him room to sit next to me on the lounger.

"She wants me to monitor your blood pressure, and as long as that stays down, we don't need to go to the hospital until your contractions are ten minutes apart or the pain gets to be too much for you." Carlos summarized his brief conversation with the doctor.

I blew out a sigh of relief. "I don't want to go to the hospital any sooner than I have to." Yeah, I'd never been a big fan of those places!

"I know, Babe. She actually suggested we try and get some sleep. Would you like to go lay down?"

"Actually, that sounds good. I think I could sleep for a little bit."

We walked hand in hand back into the bedroom. Carlos helped me get comfortable in bed,and then ran downstairs to get the blood pressure cuff. After taking my blood pressure and finding it within normal range, he slid in behind me, spooning his body with mine, while rubbing my belly in a comforting gesture.

He whispered in my ear, "Just relax. I'll be right here, keeping watch over you and the baby."

Cuddling against his chest, with his strong arms banded around me, I felt myself drifting off to sleep in the warm, safe cocoon of his body.

It was nearly four hours later when a particularly strong contraction drew me from sleep. I pulled my knees up towards my chest in an effort to ease the clenching sensation of the contraction.

"Sshh, Babe. Remember to breathe," Carlos coached, rubbing a rhythmic pattern over my belly.

Without thinking, I fell into the breathing pattern they'd taught in birthing class.

"That's good. You're almost at the peak. Just a couple more breaths, and you'll be on the downside of the contraction." Carlos continued to murmur, mainly in Spanish, little phrases of encouragement, until the pain ebbed away to nothing but a slight soreness.

"Whew, that got my attention."

"Yeah, they've been closer and stronger. I was surprised you slept through the last couple."

I rolled onto my back so that I could look at Carlos. "Hey, remember, I can sleep through anything!" I told him with a smile.

Carlos dropped a kiss to my lips. "You've proved it in the last hour, but I'm glad you were able to rest. We should probably get ready to leave."

"They're that close together?"

"About twelve minutes apart and getting stronger. You moaned through the last two contractions, but never woke up. You're amazing," he chuckled with a slight shake of his head.

"Oooh, no!" I exclaimed, and felt Carlos instantly tense.

"What's wrong?"

"The bag to take to the hospital... I never got it ready. I'd planned on doing it this week."

"No problem. It's taken care of."

"Huh?"

"I put one together a month ago. It's in the back of the closet. I'll go get it so you can make sure it has everything you want."

Carlos bounded off to the closet and came back with a medium size duffle bag that he placed next to me on the bed. I rooted around in the carefully packed bag and found everything I could possibly need or think of, including a couple of extra items I wouldn't have thought to bring.

"Oh, Carlos," I breathed when I picked up the two tiny little outfits to bring the baby home in. One for a girl, and one for a boy. "Is there anything you haven't thought of?" I asked, feeling tears welling up in my eyes.

He gave an uncharacteristic shrug of his shoulders. "I like to be prepared and have a plan, especially where you're concerned."

"Hey!" I teased. "My life has become very predictable since I married you."

Carlos cocked his eyebrow. "Predictable? You? Not hardly, Babe."

I started to tease him more about it, but the next contraction hit.

"Breathe," Carlos reminded. "They've been lasting about thirty-five seconds."

I gripped his hand, which lay over my now hard-as-a-rock stomach, and squeezed for all I was worth. He didn't even flinch.

"Half-way point. Keep breathing. You're doing great."

Blowing out a long breath, I relaxed at the end of the contraction. "Okay, that hurt."

"Stephanie, you don't have to put up with the pain. When we get to the hospital, you can have the epidural. No one, especially me, will think any less of you."

"We'll see," I sighed. "I'm ready to go now."

Carlos flipped out his phone. "Hello, Dr. Schwartz. It's Carlos. We're ready to leave for the hospital now. Yes. We'll see you there. About eighteen minutes. Okay."

"Eighteen minutes?" I asked while he placed the phone back on his belt.

"Our travel time to the hospital," Carlos explained as he helped me from bed.

I rolled my eyes. Of course he'd have strategized the entire route to the hospital, with probably a few contingency plans in place for the unexpected road construction or accident.

We made our way downstairs to the garage before the next contraction hit. I squeezed his hand tightly and breathed through the pain. When it subsided, he helped me into the SUV, and then buckled the seat belt into place.

At the first red light, I brought up something we needed to discuss. "Ummm, I guess now might be a good time to make a final decision on names for the baby, huh?"

Carlos flicked his eyes from the road a second, his mouth curving up at one corner. "Yeah, Babe. Now would be good."

"All right, so we both really like Maria Elena or Graciela Elizabeth for the girl, right?"

"Maria Elena is a beautiful love song, one of my favorites, but I think I'm leaning more towards Graciela."

"Yeah, okay. Plus, I really like her initials being G.E.M."

"This could get expensive," Carlos murmured, flashing me a full watt smile.

We shared a laugh, which ended abruptly when the next contraction hit. Carlos grabbed my left hand with his right. He traced circles of the back of my hand with his thumb, speaking softly to me, while maintaining concentration on his driving.

"Whew," I breathed out when it finally ended. "This is starting to get serious."

"You're doing so well. I can't tell you how proud I am of you or how honored I am to be sharing this experience with you." Carlos brought my hand to his mouth and placed a delicate kiss at my wrist.

Tears welled up again. _Damn __hormones._ Carlos was a man of few words, most of the time, but when he spoke of his feelings, it went straight to my heart. "I just want to say, if I start cussing, or God forbid, threaten bodily to one of my favorite parts of you,"—I dropped my hand to his lap and felt the part in question twitch and harden—"I don't mean it and I do truly love you."

"Good to know, Babe. I love you, too. Please don't suffer through this; it hurts me to see you in pain."

"I thought you'd be all for completely 'natural' childbirth."

"Not at the cost of your pain. Besides, I've researched the pain meds Dr. Schwartz suggested, and they're all very safe for you and the baby."

"I'm not sure why this is important to me, but I really want to try it without drugs."

"I'll support whatever decision you make, Stephanie."

"Okay. Now, boy names. Let's see, we liked Joaquin, Spencer, and Quentin for the first name, and agreed on Enrique for the middle name. Any of them sounding better to you?"

Carlos shook his head. "What about you?"

"I'm torn between Joaquin, because it's unique, and Quentin, because it sounds strong."

"We really should decide before we get to the hospital."

Shrugging my shoulders, I disagreed. "I don't know... We could always decide once we see the baby. Maybe, if it's a boy, we'll just know."

Carlos turned off the highway and into the hospital parking lot. "Well, I guess we'll have to go with that, considering we're here."

He pulled under the pavilion that led directly into the Women's Health and Birthing Center of the hospital. Carlos opened my door and helped me out of the SUV. A nurse ran out with a wheelchair. I looked at it with distain.

"I can walk," I told her.

She gave me a warm smile. "Sorry. Hospital policy." She looked to Carlos. "You can park your car over there." She motioned to a parking lot to the right. "We'll just go inside and get you checked in."

The nurse, Kristie, was just fastening my wrist band when Carlos joined us. "I need your left arm, Mr. Manoso."

Carlos extended his left arm to her. "It's Carlos," he said with a smile.

"I'm Kristie. Nice to meet you. I'll be Stephanie's nurse until the baby is delivered." We shook hands briefly, before she told us about the bracelets. "This is one of the many security measures we use here at the hospital. You're wearing matching bracelets, and as soon as your child is born, he or shewill also have a bracelet placed around his or her leg that matches yours. Alarms sound if the baby's bracelet passes through any outside entrances. We'll remove them right before you leave to take the baby home," she said, explaining the process to us.

This, and a few other security measures the hospital had in place, was one of the main reasons we'd chosen this hospital over any other.

We were shown into a birthing suite. If everything went as planned—meaning, I didn't have to have a caesarean—our child would be born in this room. I took a deep, calming breath as the next contraction began.

As soon as it was over, Carlos helped me change into a gown and get settled on the bed. A fetal heart monitor was placed around my belly. A few seconds later, the room filled with the rapid heartbeat of our child. I closed my eyes and just listened, suddenly anxious to hold the baby in my arms.

Carlos stroked my arm gently while he listened to the nurse explain the different monitors that were tracking my stats and the baby's.

"Okay, see this line," Kristie told Carlos.

I didn't bother to open my eyes.

"See how it's beginning to climb on the graph? Her next contraction is coming."

"Argghh," I groaned. I didn't need that monitor to give me that news flash. _Shit, this was really starting to hurt!_

Dr. Schwartz breezed into the room right in the middle of the contraction. I gave her a quick glance through my squinted-in-pain eyelids. She immediately popped on a pair of gloves and rolled her stool to the foot of the bed. She checked the monitor and waited until the contraction began to come down.

"Well, looks like the baby's decided to make an early appearance," Dr. Schwartz commented. "How's the pain? Do you want me to order something?"

I shook my head. "I'm dealing with it so far."

"Okay, but be sure. Once you get to ten centimeters, an epidural is out. We can still do locals or put something in your IV, but that will only take the edge off, not mask the pain completely."

"I understand."

"Let's see how far you're dilated." Dr. Schwartz lifted my gown and instructed me to bend my knees, placing my feet flat on the bed. "Some pressure now." I felt her fingers slid surprising easily into me. It didn't take long. She popped her gloves off and smoothed the gown back down my legs. "You'll need to make that decision about an epidural pretty soon. You're at eight centimeters. Everything looks good to go. My guess is that you'll be holding your baby in the next couple hours. I'm going to go catch up on some paperwork in the lounge. Tell Kristie if you need me. I'll just be down the hall."

"Thank you," Carlos told the doctor as she turned and left the room.

"We've got frozen fruit bars, if you're interested," Kristie offered.

"That sounds great," I told her. My mouth was dry from all the heavy breathing I'd been doing through the contractions.

She left the room, leaving Carlos and me alone for probably the last time before the baby was born.

"I love you so much, Stephanie Manoso," he whispered, brushing the sweat-matted hair off my forehead.

"I love you, too. Are you ready for this?"

His face creased into the one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen on him. "Oh yeah, Babe, I'm ready. You?"

"I can't wait to hold the baby!" I told him enthusiastically.

We were in the middle of a passionate kiss, when Kristie entered the room again.

"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "I knocked. Guess you didn't hear me."

"No problem," Carlos told her.

"This is a special time for you. A baby is so exciting! I'm sure he or she will be beautiful. Look at the parents, after all." Kristie gave us another of her warm smiles. "Do you know what you're having?"

"We wanted to be surprised," I informed her, and felt Carlos squeeze my hand, his eyes checking the monitor. Another contraction was arriving.

All conversation in the room ceased. Carlos spoke softly to me in a mixture of Spanish and English that calmed me as I breathed through the worst of the pain. This pattern repeated several times through the next hour. The last contraction was so bad that I could have sworn I heard sirens going off. Wait. They were still sounding, and the contraction had ended.

"What's that?" Carlos asked Kristie.

"The fire alarms," she said with concern in her voice.

Before she could go to check it out, Dr. Schwartz came back into the room. "We've got a situation in the opposite wing of the hospital. A small fire has broken out. They're trying to contain it, and so far, we don't need to evacuate this section of the hospital."

I couldn't help myself. I busted out laughing. "This would have to happen to me right in the middle of childbirth."

The doctor looked at me with concern. "I assure you, you'll be safe, and we have strategies in place if we have to move you."

"It's okay. Fires and I go way back," I told her through a chuckle.

Carlos shook his head slightly. "Babe."

Kristie and the doctor exchanged a brief look, probably questioning my sanity, before Kristie spoke to the doctor. "Actually, I was just going to page you. She's complete and ready to start pushing."

"Really?" I asked with surprise, though I was concerned about any more pain. I'd just about reached my limit. "Is this going to hurt more?"

"Not necessarily. It still hurts, but it's different."

"Stephanie, if you need pain medicine, just use it," Carlos pleaded.

"No, I'm okay so far. I'm just getting tired."

"That's understandable," Dr. Schwartz said. "Okay, when the next contraction starts, I want you to bear down as hard as you can and keep pushing until the contraction ends. Carlos, you can help her by holding her in a semi-sitting position, bracing her behind her back. All right, next contraction is coming. Push, Stephanie!"

I focused all my strength and energy on bearing down. It hurt. A lot. But Dr. Schwartz was right. It was a different sort of pain, more down in my pubic area, instead of my stomach. I didn't stop the loud groan of pain from escaping.

"Good, that's good," Dr. Schwartz encouraged. "Okay, relax. The contractions are going to start coming a lot more quickly, and you won't get to rest as much between them."

Carlos mopped the sweat from my forehead with a cool rag. "You're doing great. I'm so proud of you, Babe."

I closed my eyes and let his words and actions soothe me, until the next contraction hit. I straightened and tensed in pain. Carlos slid into the bed behind me, supporting my back with his body, our hands clasped together in front of me as I pushed for all I was worth.

"Kristie, let's get oxygen on her," Dr. Schwartz said after the contraction ended. "Just precautionary. You're doing great. Look in the mirror."

We looked up into the mirror directly behind the doctor's stool.

"See this?" Dr. Schwartz pointed to a fuzzy little tuft of coal black hair. "That's your baby's head."

"Oh, Carlos," I cried, trying not to pay too much attention to how far my doodah was stretched opened. _Holy shit!_ "Look at all that hair." Tears were rolling unchecked down my face.

"Yeah, Babe, I see it." Carlos' voice was choked with emotion.

"A couple more pushes like the last one, and you'll be holding this little person. I'm going to attach a monitor to the baby's head and remove the fetal heart monitor from around your belly." Dr. Schwartz stuck a little white plastic circle onto the baby's head. A different monitor began pouring out the sound of the baby's heartbeat. "Okay, Stephanie, let's have another big push."

I screamed out in pain as I felt the baby's head push free of my body. Carlos held me tightly as I began to cry. "Shh, Babe, you're doing great. It's okay. Breathe, breathe. Look!"

My eyes popped open from the tight press I'd been holding them in during the contraction, and I saw our baby's head in the mirror.

I didn't have time to do more than stare for a couple a of seconds, because the next contraction was on me.

"Push!" Dr. Schwartz demanded.

A minute later, my cry was mixed with the sound of our child's.

"Congratulations," Dr. Schwartz said happily. "It's a boy!"

**RPOV**

I had a son! A beautiful baby boy!

Cupping my hands on either side of Stephanie's face, I kissed her soundly. "Thank you so much, Babe! He's beautiful. I'm so proud of you!"

"Carlos," Dr. Schwartz said, breaking through my moment with Stephanie. "Would you like to cut the cord?"

Dropping another quick kiss to Stephanie's lips, I climbed off the bed and stood next to the doctor. She handed me the scissors. After I'd cut the cord, she passed the baby to me.

"Let Stephanie hold him for just a moment, and then we'll check him out."

I was overcome with emotion as I held the tiny infant in my arms and walked carefully the few steps to Stephanie.

"Our son, Babe," I said softly as a couple of tears fell from my eyes.

She wrapped her arms around the baby and pressed a soft kiss to his head. "Hello, little one," she cooed, looking at his little fingers and toes.

He stopped crying at the sound of her voice, his big, blue eyes open wide and searching. His tiny fist clasped tightly around my index finger.

"Carlos, what are we going to name him?"

"Quentin Enrique Manoso? He's strong, just like his mother."

Stephanie gave me a smile that could have lit a city block. "Quentin," she agreed with a nod of her head. "Your daddy's pretty strong, too, little man," Stephanie whispered to the baby.

"Sorry, but I need to take him for a few minutes," Kristie apologized, holding her hands out for the baby. "I'll bring him right back," she said with a smile.

Stephanie placed another kiss to the top of his head; I leaned down and did the same, before Kristie took Quentin over to a heated table in the corner of the room. He wailed out his displeasure.

Another nurse entered the room, and after congratulating us, offered a clean gown for Stephanie and to change the bed.

I could tell Stephanie was exhausted from delivering the baby as I threaded her limp arms through the openings of the gown.

"Stephanie?" Dr. Schwartz stepped to the opposite side of the bed. "You did great! I'm leaving an order for pain meds for you to use. Please do. They're safe for breast-feeding, so don't worry about that. You should be proud of yourself. Not many women deliver babies without any form of anesthetic these days."

I nodded my head in agreement. Stephanie had done a remarkable job. I couldn't be more proud of her.

"His name?" Kristie asked from the corner of the room.

"Quentin. Quentin Enrique Manoso," I said proudly.

"Nice name," she said with a smile as she recorded it into the computer.

"I'll see you later tonight on my rounds. Congratulations again," Dr. Schwartz said before leaving the room.

Kristie brought Quentin back to us. "Here he is, all six pounds fourteen ounces of him. Everything is checking out fine. He's early, but holding his own. Oh, and he's eighteen inches long, too, aren't you, little guy?" she questioned in a sing-song voice.

She laid the baby carefully into Stephanie's arms. I pulled a chair up next to the bed, settling a hand over both of them.

"Would you like me to take a picture?" Kristie volunteered.

"Yes," I answered. "The camera's on the top of the duffle bag in the closet."

She took several pictures of us, before placing the camera on the stand next to Stephanie's bed. "I know you're tired, but you should try to nurse Quentin before you take a nap. Let me help you this first time."

Stephanie rolled to her side, facing me, after Kristie had unfastened her gown, exposing her right breast.

"Lay him along side of you, bellies together," Kristie said.

I helped Stephanie get Quentin into position.

"Okay, guide his mouth to your nipple. Don't be discouraged if he doesn't get it right away. The first few times are tricky."

As soon as Stephanie's nipple touched Quentin's lips, he opened his mouth greedily. Stephanie jerked and yelped in reflex, startled by the sudden pressure to her sensitive nipple.

I bit back a smile; my son was a greedy little thing already. His mouth loosened and tightened around her nipple, making little slurping sounds. Stephanie alternated between giggling and flinching at his attempts to latch on. Kristie pressed his little head steadily into Stephanie's nipple, and he finally latched on to her satisfaction.

"There's a good boy," Kristie said to Quentin. "Okay, Stephanie, Carlos, see how his mouth is completely opened and his lips are turned out. That's the proper way for him to nurse. If he's not like that, pull him off and try again."

"Easy for you to say," Stephanie groaned. "My nipples are very sensitive."

"It'll get better, but for next couple of days, there might be some discomfort. I'll bring you some cream to put on them. That will help. I'm going to leave now, let you enjoy some time with your new bundle of joy. Press the button if you need me or would like me to take Quentin to the nursery."

"We'll be keeping him in here with us, Kristie, thanks."

She smiled her understanding and left the room without a sound.

I smoothed my finger along the soft as down hair that covered my son's tiny head while he nursed at his mother's breast. It was such an intimate moment, and it etched on my brain among one of the most special moments of my life. I'd never forget this feeling of peace and happiness.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" I asked.

Stephanie smiled and gave a little nod as she looked lovingly down at our son.

"It's happened to me three times. The first time I saw Julie, when I met you in that diner, and again, just a few minutes ago. Dios, Babe, he's perfect." I traced my finger down his little arm.

A tear slid silently out of the corner of her eye. I caught it easily with my thumb. "He is perfect, isn't he? He reminds me so much of you."

Personally, I thought he was a good blend of us both. His eyes were the same color of blue as Stephanie's, though I had read that a baby's eye color sometimes changed a couple of months after birth. I hoped Quentin's didn't. His nose was small and pert like Stephanie's, too. His skin color and hair, however, were all mine.

We watched as Quentin's eyes drifted close, his mouth losing its suction on Stephanie's nipple. Moments later, Stephanie joined our son in sleep. I sat for a long time and watched them sleep together. Eventually, I couldn't resist the urge to hold Quentin in my arms. I bundled the blankets around his little body tightly, and then scooped him up out of Stephanie's arms. She stirred.

"Shh, Babe. I've got him. You rest," I said quietly. I snapped the closure of her gown with one hand and pulled the sheet up over her shoulder.

I stood next to the bed, holding our son, and watched her drift back to sleep. Crossing the room, I sat down a rocking chair that was placed next to a window. The sun was just starting to rise—my favorite time of the day, made only more perfect today because I was sharing it for the first time with my son.

My world had been so dark and lonely before Stephanie Plum stumbled into my life. I'd seen terrible things, done terrible things, been to the literal depths of hell in foreign countries, but in this moment, I had hope and the brightness of future like no other time in my life. Sure, there would be bad times—disappointments were all a part of growth—but with this beautiful woman by my side, we'd stand the tests and trials together, providing a loving home for our son.

_**The End!**_

**End notes:** Well, this isn't _exactly_ where I planned to end this story, so an epilogue is a definite possibility, though I'm not going to make any promises of when it might be posted. I can't tell you how bitter sweet the completion of this story is for me. I've enjoyed it so much! I hope you have, too. Thanks again for all your support.

I'm uncertain what the future holds for my writing. I'll warn you, it might be a while before I post anything. Writer's burnout has hit me hard!

Please take a moment to review. I really appreciate it!

Until next time, ~Angie


End file.
